CHINA: BEIJING: EU/CHINA WTO TRADE TALKS

English/Nat The European Union's top trade negotiator says China appears to be backing away from major concessions it made recently with the United States in an effort to gain accession to the World Trade Organisation. Debate and criticism inside China may now force Premier Zhu Rongji to slow down or possibly reverse progress made in talks with President Bill Clinton over China's entry into the W-T-O. Domestic resistance to opening China's markets has caused Chinese leaders to retreat from trade concessions the United States thought it won last month. That has brought about a flurry of diplomatic efforts from the West. But in a statement the European Union Trade commissioner Leon Brittan reported that an E-U trade negotiating team had made no new progress. SOUNDBITE: (English) "Our negotiating team have been here for 10 days and have clarified the position but made no new progress. At the meeting with (Premier) Zhu I made clear that as far as the European Union is concerned we have no political problems as far as China's membership of the WTO is concerned. We of course have other political interests. We are concerned about human rights matters which I raised yesterday with Foreign Minister Tang, but there is no political obstacle to China's entry into the WTO as far as Europe is concerned." SUPER CAPTION: Leon Brittan, EU Trade Commissioner In April, the two sides came close to striking a deal after 13 years of fitful bargaining by China to enter world trade's rule-making body. Then, the U-S released a list of concessions by China, throwing open previously closed sectors such as agriculture, telecommunications and insurance. But China claims that some of the concessions were not agreed on. The level of progress now stands somewhat short of the "high-water mark" claimed by Washington. SOUNDBITE: (English) "This morning we went in some detail through most of the outstanding issues relating to goods and services and other issues and further analysis of the offer made to the United States showed that it was not as comprehensive as first seemed to be the case. In addition to that questions remain about the comparative opportunities for the EU and US industry in China ahead of any WTO commitments." SUPER CAPTION: Leon Brittan, EU Trade Commissioner He said China was disputing concessions the United States said it had secured from Chinese negotiators, including allowing foreign partners a majority stake in telecommunications and finance joint ventures. Such concessions face strong opposition. SOUNDBITE: (English) "First of all they (the Chinese) have had to digest what they've done with the Americans. Secondly they have only recently begun to absorb what we want and I think they want to hear it put by the man at the top before they wanted to respond significantly and thirdly of course, as I've said, there is no doubt at all that there has been criticism in China of the extent to which they have gone with the Americans and that means that before addressing our concerns it may be necessary for a period of consolidation, reflection and consultation to take place." SUPER CAPTION: Leon Brittan, EU Trade Commissioner Despite the setbacks, the E-U wants China in the W-T-O by the end of the year. U-S negotiators, who return to China in 10 days, had hoped to reach an agreement by June. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/bcc353cbd307a0762d37b67762314441 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork