BEIJING, June 17 (Xinhua) -- Director-General of the
World Trade Organization (WTO) Pascal Lamy arrived in Beijing on Sunday as he
tries to revive the stalled Doha trade talks.
In an interview prior to his
departure for Beijing, Lamy said he would
tell Chinese officials that developing countries should also contribute to the
trade talks so they can be concluded in the next six to nine months.
"Obviously, all countries are preparing for a
possible compromise ... and I want to make sure that as we reach this crunch
time, China can preserve its defenses and offences in the negotiations," Lamy
said.
Next week representatives of the United States, the
European Union, India and Brazil will meet in Germany to discuss possible
compromise solutions to the Doha talks.
During his four days in Beijing, Lamy will meet with
officials from the ministries of commerce, finance, agriculture, and the central
bank.
The Doha Round of trade talks was launched in 2001
with the goal of boosting the global economy and helping poor countries through
fairer trade conditions. The talks have stalled mainly because of sharp
differences over agriculture subsidies and tariffs.
Lamy said the talks need to be finished by the end of
the year or early next year, and to do that WTO members must first reach an
interim agreement on cutting agriculture subsidies, agriculture tariffs and
industrial tariffs in the next few weeks.
China, which joined the WTO in 2001, has stressed
that specific concerns of new WTO members should be effectively addressed at the
trade talks.