The achievements of the WTO's Hong Kong conference, which ended Sunday with the release of the Hong Kong Declaration, will positively influence the economic development of China, said Yi Xiaozhun, Vice Minister of Commerce, at the Fourth Forum on "WTO and Shenzhen" held in Shenzhen yesterday.

According to Yi, the Hong Kong talks have achieved some significant progress, which includes the elimination of farm export subsidies by 2013, allowing duty-free and quota-free privileges to at least 97 percent of products exported by the least developed countries by 2008, and elimination of all export subsidies on cotton by rich countries in 2006.

Such measures can benefit developing countries, of which China is one. They can strengthen China's agriculture industry and boost the country's farm produce exports, especially because China has the biggest agricultural population in the world.

"The Hong Kong Declaration marks an early harvest for China. It lays a solid foundation for future talks in the 'Doha round'," said Yi.

Being a new member of the WTO, China played a very important role in the Hong Kong talks, said Rufus H. Yerxa, deputy director-general of the WTO.

"China has built up its image as a major player in the WTO. This might be the first time that a new member can make such an impressive presence in the talks," said Yerxa.

Almost all issues which China participated in have resulted in profitable decisions or changes for developing countries, he said.

Despite the achievements, WTO members are still faced with a lot of obstacles in the "Doha round," according to Yerxa. He expected China to continue taking its responsibilities so as to further balance the trade structure in the world.

Editor: Donald