At the end of the signing ceremony, China's Foreign Trade Minister Shi Guangsheng and Switzerland's Economics Minister Pascal Couchepin told reporters that the conclusion of the bilateral market-access negotiations and the signing of the agreement between China and Switzerland will help expand the bilateral trade and further promote the development of trade and economic relations between the two countries.

Meanwhile, the 12th session of the Working Party on China's WTO Accession, which began on September 13, is going on in Geneva. A formal meeting is scheduled on Thursday. The Chinese delegation, led by deputy minister for foreign trade Long Yongtu, is holding consultations with WTO members on the two final documents about China's accession to the 138-member WTO.

Of the 37 WTO members wishing to hold bilateral market-access negotiations with China, only Mexico has not yet concluded the talks. Long expressed the hope that all bilateral WTO negotiations would be concluded in the near future through concerted efforts of the parties concerned.

(Xinhua 09/27/2000)