"This is
great news and I congratulate all those whose hard work has made this possible. There is
still further important work to be done. Bilateral negotiations remain to be concluded
between China and some of the WTO member governments. The US Congress is due to vote in
the next few weeks on Chinas trading status. Important technical issues remain to be
resolved in the multilateral process in Geneva. Nothing, however, should diminish the
importance of this news from Beijing. This is another major step towards extending the
benefits and responsibilities of the WTO system to a quarter of the worlds
population."