Trade chief Shinji Sato expressed hope August 26 that upcoming bilateral talks on China's entry to the World Trade Organization would see positive developments.
Chinese negotiators, headed by Long Yongtu, an assistant minister for foreign trade and economic cooperation, are to begin three-day negotiations August 27 with their Japanese counterparts in Tokyo. "We do hope for positive results in the negotiations, but it depends on what kind of proposals come from the Chinese side," Sato told a news conference.
Referring to the last negotiation session in July, he said: "China made some liberalization proposals concerning import tariffs but the offer remains far from satisfactory. As far as the service sector is concerned, they have yet to make any proposals."