Trade chief Shinji Sato on August 5 urged China to improve its market liberalization proposals if the nation wants to be accepted by the World Trade Organization.
In reference to the latest multilateral negotiation session in Geneva, Sato expressed disappointment over Beijing's failure to present concrete liberalization proposals in the services sector. It will be difficult to accept China into the Geneva-based organization, he said, unless Beijing substantially improves its proposals. "China has proposed to make certain improvements in the area of import tariffs, but not to the satisfactory level," he said.
Japan, one of the earnest supporters of China's quick entry into the WTO, had hoped to see substantial progress in the ongoing negotiations before Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto's visit to China slated for Sept. 4 to 7.