China and Mexico on Thursday signed an accord removing a hurdle to China's accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), but another barrier to Chinese membership seemed remain in place.
WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell said no details were yet available on the accord, which had been delayed for nearly a year over disagreements on how far Mexico would open its market to Chinese consumer goods.
Trade diplomats welcomed the deal but said it left in place another roadblock to China's entry -- a disagreement between the European Union and United States over terms for operations of foreign insurance firms.
"There is no movement on that front," said a negotiator involved in talks in Geneva aimed at clearing final barriers to an entry package for China shaped over 15 years of talks.
Diplomats said the Mexican government planned a news conference in Mexico City later in the day to give details of the accord, signed in Geneva by Mexico's WTO ambassador Eduardo Perez Motta and China's envoy Sha Zukang.
Mexico had already said it would not block an overall accord if it had not reached a deal.
Mexican consumer industries -- especially footwear and textiles -- have voiced strong concern that they could be priced out of domestic and foreign markets by Chinese imports.
Mexico had insisted it must maintain measures against similar goods from China for up to 15 years after China became a member of the currently 142-nation body.
Chinese and WTO officials had hoped originally that the overall entry package would have been approved on Thursday at a formal session of the trade body's working party on China.
Admission would then have been formally approved by WTO ministers meeting in Qatar in November, allowing China to enter by the end of the year.
But Thursday's session was postponed until next Monday in the wake of terror attacks in New York and Washington.
Negotiators say the delay may give time for the EU, United States and China to resolve the insurance issue -- in which the influential US American Insurance Group Inc is playing a role.
AIG, founded in Shanghai in the 1920s, has a strong position in China, owning its operations there 100 percent.
The firm, and US officials, argue that wording of the bilateral Sino-US deal means it will be able to have full ownership of any new branches it might open.
But the EU says that would discriminate against firms from its 15 members, since under Brussels' deal with China they would be able to hold only 50 percent of equity in new operations.
(chinadaily.com 09/14/2001)
