The European Union (EU) is finalizing a technical assistance
program for China with an investment of more than 20 million Euros,
according to an Asia-Invest Networking Conference which opened
Tuesday in Beijing.
Hans-Friedrich Beseler, special adviser to EU Commissioner Pascal
Lamy, said at the meeting that the program offers training for
Chinese government functionaries in implementing WTO
commitments.
It
will be the largest technical assistance program supporting China's
integration into the World Trade Organization, Beseler said.
The program involves varied training courses in a wide range of
areas, including financial services, statistics, public
procurement, legal cooperation and protection of intellectual
property rights.
Moreover, Beseler said, the EU has already spent more than 20
million Euros to establish a series of capacity building projects
to help China integrate into the world economy.
The special adviser said there is no doubt for the EU Commission
that China will eagerly honor its WTO commitments and all signs
point to China being well on track to integrating the world trading
system.
Beseler, the former head of the EU team for China's WTO accession
negotiations, cited China as fully aware of the importance of
implementing the WTO commitments and has always made it quite clear
that the government will ensure correct application.
Full and correct implementation within the agreed timetables is
essential, Beseler said, not only for the EU and China's other
trading partners, but also for the functioning of the entire WTO
system. It is also essential for China to avail itself of the
protection offered against others' misbehaviors, he added.
Beseler expressed the belief that investment access to the gigantic
China market has been progressively improved. China is now bound by
the same rules and disciplines as all other major trading nations,
which will help ensure a greater degree of certainty for investors
in China and worldwide.
China's long march towards a market economy is irreversible,
Beseler noted.
(
November 6, 2002)