The sixth WTO ministerial meeting is scheduled to be held in Hong Kong in December of next year, said Sun Zhenyu, China's first ambassador to the WTO, yesterday in Hong Kong.

Sun expects the new round of multi-lateral negotiations will bring about progress in some major sectors, covering agriculture, trade facilities and services.

China has been a part of the WTO for three years, with membership bringing the nation many challenges but also substantial benefits, Sun said.

Sun added that the country's total export value has reached 1 trillion yuan (US$120.5 billion) so far this year.

Imports have also seen a consistent increase by 20, 40 and 35 per cent from 2002 to this year respectively.

"The increase shows China's trade system is gradually opening up," Sun said.

In addition, Sun said as a new member of the WTO, China is facing lots of challenges and difficulties, and "the nation is terribly short of professionals."

Therefore, the major challenge right now is to train more professionals and deal with the current situation in the meeting next year, Sun said.

He added that the central government has launched a series of training programs for the leaders of each province on WTO regulations, in hopes this will encourage the nation's further participation in the WTO.

Meanwhile, Sun said it has been noticed many Western countries are worried about the cancellation of quotas next year, which might result in restrictions on Chinese imports.

Sun said Western protectionist policies might bring about anti-dumping measures against cheap Chinese imports, leading to negative impacts on the textile industry.

Source: China Daily