October 13, 2001	Saturday	Rajab 25, 1422

BEIJING, Oct 12: China is expected to become a full fledged member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on December 10, followed by Taiwan the next day.

WTO trade ministers will approve the two memberships at a ministerial meeting in Doha, Qatar, in November.

Sources said that because no voting procedure was required, China aimed at securing the ministers’ consensus on its membership — considered to be a virtual formality — on the first day of the five-day meeting scheduled to take place from November 9 to 13.

To speed up China’s accession, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress is expected to convene a special session on the same day to ratify the terms of membership.

The ratified terms will then be sent back to the WTO secretariat and, under WTO regulations, be lodged there for 30 days before membership becomes official.

Beijing wants to join the organization as quickly as possible because it is eager to take part in a possible new round of trade negotiations by members, likely to start at the end of the year if ministers agreed on the agenda in Doha.

Sources said China’s entry to the WTO would be followed by Taiwan’s a day later.

This would mark the first time that both Beijing and Taipei have become full members of an international organization.—APP