CRAWFORD, Texas, Dec 28: US President George W. Bush on Thursday signed a proclamation formally granting permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) to China, effective January 1, 2002, the White House announced.

“This is the final step in normalizing US-China trade relations and welcoming China into a global, rules-based trading system,” spokesman Scott McClellan said in a statement.

Bush gave Beijing’s accession to the World Trade Organization the final green light on November 9, and China formally became a WTO member on December 11, capping a 15-year struggle to join.

Bush’s proclamation also terminated the application to China of the 1974 Jackson-Vanik law that restricts trade with communist nations that limit emigration.

Until the US Congress granted Beijing PNTR last year, lawmakers battled each year to grant China an annual waiver of the trade restrictions.—AFP