GM Urges China to Lead by Embracing WTO Spirit

Posted 11 December 2006 @ 01:41 pm EET     Print     Reprint     E-Mail     Comments

BEIJING (Reuters) - General Motors Corp., the world's largest auto maker, said on Monday that China's WTO entry has benefited both foreign and domestic auto makers, but that China should fully embrace the organization's spirit of free trade.

"The world needs China to play a leadership role in WTO," Nick Reilly, GM Asia Pacific president, told a news conference on the five-year anniversary of the mainland's entry into the World Trade Organization. Many trading partners complain of China's huge trade surplus and slow moves to open its domestic market, but the emergence of the mainland has also helped boost global trade activity.

"Other new countries such as recently admitted Vietnam are looking at see how China plays the WTO game," said Reilly. "Whether it merely seeks to meet the minimum requirements or whether it embraces the spirit of WTO."

The auto executive said more active participation in the WTO by China would benefit more people both in China and elsewhere. "The fact of the matter is China's entry into the WTO has benefited companies large and small, multinational and local," he said. China is now the world's second largest automobile market, which is still growing at a brisk pace.