US fears over China EU trade

A senior United States government official has spoken of the need to normalise trade relations with China following a new trade deal between China and the European Union.

The deputy Trade Representative, Richard Fisher, said that the United States risked missing out on trade benefits that would instead, go to Europe.

The new deal reached earlier today Friday removes the last major obstacle to China's fourteen-year bid to join the World Trade Organisation.

The Clinton administration has been urging Congress to pass its proposal to grant permanent normal trading status to Beijing but Mr Fisher said the vote next week would be tough and close. New figures indicate that the United States' trade deficit widened to a record high of thirty-point-two billion dollars in March, although the deficit with China narrowed slightly.

The Chinese president, Jiang Zemin, hailed it as a winning deal for both sides, while the EU trade commissioner, Pascal Lamy, said it would boost the process of economic reform in China.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service