China-WTO talks resume

Talks on China's membership of the World Trade Organisation resume in Geneva later today 0900 GMT Wednesday.

Diplomats from the one-hundred and forty member countries are said to be confident that the remaining obstacles to China's accession can be overcome in the coming months.

The BBC correspondent in Geneva says while most of the major countries in the WTO had signed agreements with China by the end of last year and progress had been made in areas like intellectual property rights, issues such as access to China's commercial services sector and differences over manufacturing industry subsidies have yet to be resolved.

Our correspondent says even after the negotiations have been finalised, it will take several months before the accession agreement is ready for signing.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service