国内英语新闻:China's participation in global trading system opportunity for all: WTO chief

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- A policy of more trade and greater openness to the rest of the world has brought significant benefits to China and greater market opportunities to its trading partners, the head of the World Trade Organization says.

"I don't think there is any question that China joining the WTO has been a very good thing for China and for the WTO and its members," WTO Director General Pascal Lamy said in an interview with Xinhua.

The WTO chief was expected to join the forum "China's Impact on Global Trade and Growth" on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum annual meeting held in this Swiss alpine town.

"In joining the WTO, China successfully underpinned a policy of what had been 20 years of progressive openness," Lamy said.

Adherence to economic reforms through international commitments ensured that China would stay on the path of openness, he noted, adding that the policy has helped the country economically, politically and socially.

Lamy stressed that China has done a "remarkable job" in reducing poverty, which is an important task for the country, along with registering double-digit growth, thus becoming the world's largest manufacturer and the second largest economy.

Apart from enhanced market access with its trading partners and more equal treatment in global trade, WTO membership also has allowed China to gain access to the organization's dispute settlement system, Lamy said.

According to a WTO report issued in December, as the world's biggest exporter, China ranks first in receiving anti-dumping (AD) investigations, with 23 new AD initiations directed at its exports in the first half of 2010.

In recent rulings arbitrated by the WTO Dispute Settlement Body (DSB), China has won a poultry dispute against the United States, and a steel fastener case against the European Union.

Being a WTO member, "China would have a seat at the table as negotiations commenced on the trade rules for the 21st century," Lamy said, referring to the decade-long Doha round of global trade negotiations aimed at building the next generation trading system.

Even more importantly, for China, participation in the global system of rules and discipline greatly boosted investors' confidence and helped facilitate foreign direct investment in China, he said.

On the other side of the coin, China's integration into the world trading system has given enormous driving force to the global economy and market opportunity to its trade partners.