China Offer to Open Its Markets Falls Short, U.S. Official Says

BEIJING — A new Chinese proposal to offer foreign companies greater access to its service sector does not satisfy American concerns about China’s bid to join the World Trade Organization, a spokesman for the U.S. trade representative said Saturday.

“While China put forward new proposals, those proposals are not responsive to U.S. interests at this point,” said Jay Ziegler, spokesman for U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky.

Barshefsky hopes to meet with Foreign Trade Minister Shi Guangsheng to suggest ways for China to further open its markets. Such a meeting, which has not been finalized, would be “more an exchange of ideas than nuts-and-bolts negotiations,” Ziegler said.

Washington long has been pressuring China to further open its markets before it joins the WTO.

A breakthrough appeared unlikely before President Clinton arrives in Beijing for a summit next week.

Barshefsky met with Shi on Friday to discuss China’s long-stalled bid to join the WTO, the global body that sets trade rules.

The proposal would allow more foreign competition in China’s tightly controlled financial and telecommunications industries, and legal and accounting professions.

China is not eager to expose domestic companies to competition, particularly at a time when its growth targets are threatened by a drop in trade and investment because of the Asian financial crisis. China also is trying to restructure debt-ridden state industries.