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he came to China twice, both for China‘s WTO entry, and he also carried out a series
of talks with Chinese officials, all on the World Trade Organization.
In 1999, when China was actively applying for the WTO membership, Moore, the
then Director-General, declared in Geneva that all WTO members would welcome
China‘s accession and he would do his best to make China‘s entry a reality. At that
time, a summit between Chinese and American leaders was held in Auckland. Moore
thought that the summit was a great opportunity for the two sides to reach an
agreement on the timetable for reopening WTO negotiations. He also hoped that a
breakthrough could be made. However, although many personages, including
Moore, made great efforts in this regard, the negotiation on China‘s entry still made
little progress that year.
In June 2001, Moore came to China as a specially invited guest to the APEC
Ministerial Conference and conducted friendly, open and sincere talks with the then
Chinese Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, Shi Guangsheng, in
Shanghai International Conference Center. During the talk, the Chinese Minister
extended his appreciation and gratitude to Moore and the World Trade Organization
Secretariat under his leadership for their support and help during the negotiations for
China‘s entry into the WTO. Shi also explained to Moore China‘s stand and attitude
in the new round of multilateral trade talks.
Moore conveyed the earnest wish of WTO members that China could enter the
organization as soon as possible. He also mentioned that there were major issues
concerning China‘s accession. One was when China actually would enter WTO and
another was when the new round of talks would start. Moore hoped that China could
enter the World Trade Organization before the 4th WTO Ministerial Conference to be
held in November that year, and he also did his best to coordinate with the various
parties.
With the success of negotiations between China and the US, China‘s WTO entry
made a great breakthrough. On 11 November, 2001, China‘s trade representative for
WTO entry, Shi Guangsheng, submitted to the Director-General the official
document signed by the then Chinese President Jiang Zemin approving China‘s
entry into the World Trade Organization. This meant that China would officially
become a WTO member.
On that day, Moore said that he was exceptionally happy and had a sense of
achievement. He noted that China‘s entry into the WTO would have a positive
influence on China and the international political and economic order. Besides, the
entry also made the WTO more representative around the world and enabled the
organization to play a bigger role in the global economy. He acclaimed China‘s
reform and opening-up as a major development in the 20th century and its entry into
the World Trade Organization as a major event in the 21st century. He concluded
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