CHINA'S insistence on being classified as a developing country could be an obstacle in its application to join the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), senior trade officials say.
Their warning comes on the eve of GATT chief Peter Sutherland's visit to Beijing to discuss China's long-running bid to bring the country back into the world trade body.
Mr Sutherland will next week meet President Jiang Zemin, Prime Minister Li Peng, Vice-Premier Li Lanqing and Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation Minister Wu Yi.
China left the GATT after the communist takeover in 1949 but has been pushing to be readmitted before the body is replaced by the World Trade Organisation.
Robin Gill, the Trade Department's Assistant Director-General (multilateral division), said several problems still had to be resolved before its attempt was successful.
Trade diplomats, particularly those representing the United States and Europe, stress the need for China to drop its claim to be readmitted as a less developed country.
Under GATT rules, these countries are entitled to a range of concessions not available to developed countries.
