GENEVA, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- Although occupied with the trade body's most important meeting, WTO chief Pascal Lamy had two more things to do -- writing his daily blog and learning to speak Chinese.

    "Rainy weather here in Geneva. I had loads of papers to read before going to the office," Lamy wrote in his blog on Monday, which was posted on the official website of the Geneva-based WTO.

    It is not clear whether Lamy is a regular blogger, but the recent pieces were specifically written for the WTO's seventh ministerial conference, which was held from Monday to Wednesday to review the WTO's activities.

    The conference is the topmost decision-making body of the WTO, which brings together trade chiefs of all its 153 members. Lamy's blog provided a rare inside view of how the WTO is functioning.

    "The morning was busy, with more meetings with trade ministers -- I had an 'Asian' morning -- ministers of Vietnam, Japan and China," Lamy wrote.

    Following the bilateral meetings, the most important part of Monday for Lamy was the official opening of the ministerial conference and a plenary session later on.

    In a well-prepared opening statement, Lamy surprised attendants with his Chinese.

    "A Chinese proverb says 'Zhong Zhi Cheng Cheng': Unity is Strength. My sincere hope is that we follow the wisdom of these words," he said, urging ministers to become more united and show aclear determination to conclude the Doha Round in 2010.

    The Doha Round of global trade talks was launched in 2001 at a previous WTO ministerial conference in Qatar's capital. It has been deadlocked in the past eight years due to differences between developed and developing members over access to agricultural and non-agricultural markets.

    Political leaders now aim to finish the round by 2010, although previous deadlines have been repeatedly missed.

    In his blog, Lamy revealed how hard he had practiced speaking the Chinese proverb in order to give a push to the negotiations.

    "I hope we will get the chance to talk turkey at the ministerial (conference) and see how we are all going to pull together to have trade play its role in the recovery," he wrote. "Can you imagine the face of my staff as I practise?"

    Speech after speech, every minister was given three to five minutes to make a short statement, in which the long-stalled Doha Round of global trade talks and threat of protectionism became the two key issues.

    "By the way, the attention paid to the speeches of the representatives of China and the U.S. was quite telling," Lamy said.

    At the end of the day, there should be relaxation. What did Lamy serve to his guests?

    "The day finishes with several overlapping receptions and other commitments and cocktails are not really my thing, but it's good to meet and talk to old and new friends in an informal setting. This evening it was cheese and sushi, a Swiss reception and a Japanese buffet," he wrote.