DATE=5/25/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CHINA - TRADE REACT (L)
NUMBER=2-262790
BYLINE=ROGER WILKISON
DATELINE=BEIJING
CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: China has expressed its satisfaction that the  
U-S House of Representatives has approved a bill 
granting it permanent low-tariff access to the U-S 
market.  But, as VOA correspondent Roger Wilkison 
reports, Beijing is also criticizing provisions in the 
bill that would set up a commission to monitor its 
human rights record.

TEXT:  Officials at China's foreign and trade 
ministries are quoted by the official Xinhua news 
agency as saying the decision by the House of 
Representatives was wise.  The legislation, which is 
expected to also pass in the U-S Senate, eliminates 
two decades of annual congressional reviews of China's 
trading status and gives Beijing the same rights of 
access to the U-S market that nearly every other 
country enjoys.  The United States is China's biggest 
export market.

But Xinhua also quotes Trade Ministry spokesman Hu 
Chusheng as saying the bill's provisions on human 
rights monitoring are unacceptable to China because 
they constitute interference in the country's internal 
affairs.  Xinhua quotes Mr. Hu as saying Washington 
should correct what he calls its "wrongdoing" in this 
regard.

Still, Chinese officials are breathing a sigh of 
relief that last November's landmark trade accord 
between Beijing and Washington has overcome its most 
difficult hurdle.  The agreement paves the way for 
China to join the World Trade Organization, a step 
seen by the top leadership as a spur to further 
economic reforms.

President Jiang Zemin and Premier Zhu Rongji are 
determined to open the Chinese economy up to foreign 
competition.  They hope such competition will give an 
impetus to Chinese companies to shape up, become more 
market-oriented and less dependent on state handouts.  
W-T-O membership is also expected to attract the 
foreign investment China needs to fund its reforms.  
In the short run, Chinese officials acknowledge that 
millions of state enterprise workers will lose their 
jobs and millions of peasants will be forced to leave 
the land.  But they are betting on long-term gain as 
China moves more speedily toward a market economy and 
the prosperity that is expected to generate. (signed)

NEB/HK/RW/JO/PLM 



25-May-2000 03:36 AM EDT (25-May-2000 0736 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.