President Hu Jintao urged the world leaders in St. Petersburg on Monday to push forward the World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha round talks.

 

Hu made the call when he addressed the luncheon meeting of the outreach session of the G8 summit.

 

In his speech, Hu said that the time is pressing for the Doha round talks and that the leaders of the WTO members should show political resolve to push forward the talks so as to achieve a result that is beneficial to all parties and make the Doha round around for development.

 

In a WTO ministerial meeting earlier this month in Geneva, the WTO members failed to reach an agreement on the Doha round. The ministers agreed to meet later this month.

 

The WTO members have set the deadline for the Doha round talks to complete as the end of this year.

 

(Xinhua News Agency July 18, 2006)