Trade ministers from the European Union, Canada, Japan and the United States endorsed a statement Wednesday calling for China's accession to the World Trade Organization by November.
In wrapping up two days of quadrilateral trade talks in Tokyo, the ministers also said, "We welcomed progress made in respect of the accession of China, and will continue our respective discussions with a view to completing these accession negotiations prior to the Seattle Ministerial so as to enable China to participate in the next round as a WTO member."
The Quadrilateral Trade Ministers Meeting, the 32nd of its kind since 1982, was chaired by trade minister Kaoru Yosano and attended by Sergio Marchi, Canadian Minister for International Trade; vice president of the European Commission, the executive body of the EU, Leon Brittan; and U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky.