RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/L/72
28June1995
ORGANIZATION(95-1766)
Original: English
REQUEST BYTHE PEOPLE 'SREPUBLIC OFCHINA
FOR OBSERVER STATUS INWTO BODIES
Thefollowingcommunication,dated22June1995,whichhasbeenreceivedfromthePermanent
Mission ofthePeople 'sRepublic ofChina totheUnited Nations andother international organizations
inSwitzerland, iscirculated totheWTO Members.
_______________
Upon theinstruction ofmyGovernment, Ihavethehonour toinform Your Excellency that
theGovernment ofthePeople 'sRepublic ofChina hasdecided toapply fortheobserver status inthe
General Council oftheWorld Trade Organization anditssubsidiary bodies.
Since theapplication fortheresumption ofitscontracting partystatus intheGeneral Agreement
onTariffs andTrade in1986, China hasmade theestablishment ofthesocialist market economy its
target, andcarried outaseries ofsignificant reforms initseconomic andtrade systems soastobring
thembasicallyconformabletotheWTOrules.Chinasupportsthemultilateraltradingsystemrepresented
bytheGATT/WTO, andiscontinuing thenegotiations onitscontracting party status intheGATT,
withthehopethattheoutcome ofthenegotiations willbeChina 'sjoining ofWTO asafullmember.
Prior tothis,theaccording oftheobserver status intheWTO toChina would beconducive tothe
negotiations onChina 'scontracting party status intheGATT andthestrengthening ofthemultilateral
trading system.