China on WTO pact offer: Don't be 'too demanding'

BEIJING: China wants to join a World Trade Organisation pact on government procurement but says other members should not be "too demanding" on its improved offer, the country's WTO ambassador has said.

In an interview published Friday in the official China Daily, WTO envoy Sun Zhenyu said it would take "time and effort" to improve Beijing's offer, but that it wanted to join "as soon as possible".

The government procurement agreement ( GPA) regulates trade in public-sector purchases. Western nations are keen for China to join, as its accession would open up its multi-billion-dollar state contracts market to foreign bidders.

China has regularly been criticised for not allowing foreign companies access to large government-backed projects.

Beijing last month submitted a revised offer to join the GPA which deputy US trade representative Demetrios Maranthis said included "significant improvements".

Sun explained that in its new offer, China had lowered the threshold for contracts and expanded the range of entities covered by the pact. It also reduced the implementation time for the agreement from 15 to five years.

But China's ambassador to the Geneva-based WTO nevertheless warned GPA members not to be "too demanding".

"GPA parties should understand that, under the current circumstances, a lot of opportunities are provided," Sun told the China Daily.

"The principle of reciprocity does not necessarily lie in the coverage and threshold, but more importantly relates to the scale of China's economy and its growth rate," he added.

"China is going through fast economic growth. Numerous contracts will be given out in supplies, services and construction. These will help the world economy to recover from the crisis."

Washington and the European Union have been pushing China, which joined the WTO in 2001, to join the procurement agreement now limited to 41 of the WTO's 153 members, including the US, EU's 27 members and Japan.

The latest to join was Taiwan last year.

The next talks on China's GPA bid are due in October, the China Daily said.

In June, US lawmakers proposed a ban on the US government buying Chinese-made goods or services until Beijing joins the procurement agreement.