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EU, China in trade pact
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May 19, 2000: 9:26 a.m. ET
Europe strikes trade deal in line with US accord to ease China's WTO entry
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LONDON (CNNfn) - The European Union signed a landmark trade pact with China in Beijing on Friday, ending four months of negotiations that had threatened to cloud China's planned entry to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The deal is reported to be broadly in line with the one China agreed last November with the United States, and may sway U.S. politicians who are due to vote on that pact next week. 
Economists suggested that the deal signed by EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy and Chinese Trade Minister Shi Guangsheng promises to boost commerce between China and its third-largest trading partner.
Lamy had led the EU delegation in three previous meetings with China this year and had been pushing for greater concessions than those achieved by U.S. trade officials.
Commission officials were unavailable to confirm details of the pact, but media reports from Beijing suggested that disagreements on issues such as access to the Chinese mobile telecom and financial services markets remained the key stumbling blocks.
The reports said that China had held out to limit overseas ownership of cellular joint ventures in China to 49 percent, in line with the U.S. pact and below the 50 percent targeted by EU officials.
However, the two sides were reported to have agreed an accelerated timetable for overseas participation and control of ventures in life insurance and auto production.
China also agreed to open up 20 percent of its annual oil imports to non-state-owned traders after it joins the WTO, according to the Financial Times.
U.S. approval nearer?
Analysts suggest that an apparent EU compromise over telecoms might help smooth the way for the approval of the U.S. deal by Congress. U.S. negotiators had come under fire for not adopting such a tough stance as their European counterparts.
The WTO sets global trade rules and China has been seeking entry to the global trade elite for almost 14 years by agreeing to reduce trade barriers that have propped up large parts of its state-owned industry, notably in agricultural products and electrical machinery.
Lowering trade barriers is expected to boost trade flows between China and the rest of the world. Merrill Lynch has forecast that the country's imports could jump by $120 billion over the next five years, while exports are expected to climb by $100 billion.
The EU deal leaves just seven of the WTO's 136 members to agree trade deals with China before it can sign up to the body. Analysts expect final accession to be agreed in the final quarter of the year, paving the way for China's formal entry in 2003. 
-- from staff and wire reports
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