Updated at 5.54pm, Wednesday: It is vital for China to join the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in order to satisfy its soaring demand for resources for further development, the Financial Daily quoted a senior official as saying on Wednesday.
By joining the world trade club, China can fully integrate itself into the world economy and look for outside help to maintain sustainable policies, Qiu Xiaohua, chief economist and deputy-director of the State Bureau of Statistics said.
''The WTO accession will also force the country to use resources more efficiently and prudently with less monopoly and more international competition,'' Mr Qiu said at an annual economic conference organised by the Beijing Youth Association.
He said that the WTO could help China find a better solution to an anticipated oil shortage.
China became a net oil importer in 1993. It imported 20 per cent of its oil consumption last year, and the import volume is expected to rise 30 per cent to 100 million tonnes by 2010, according a report in the October issue of the Economic Management Digest magazine.
China has reported fast economic growth since it began opening up the sector in 1978. The mainland economy has maintained double-digit growth since 1995.
