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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
November 9, 2001

President Certifies Terms of China's Accession to WTO
Statement by the Press Secretary

President Bush Certifies Terms of China's Accession to World Trade

Organization

Today the President certified that final terms of entry for the People's Republic of China to the World Trade Organization (WTO) are at least equivalent to those agreed to bilaterally between the United States and China in 1999.  The 142 members of the WTO who are meeting this week in Doha, Qatar for the WTO Ministerial are expected to decide formally the accessions of both China and Taiwan.

The President's certification is required under a law the Congress passed last year authorizing the grant of Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status to China.  Granting China PNTR status is necessary if the United States is to take full advantage of China's WTO membership, including recourse to the organization's dispute settlement mechanism.

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