The European Union and China have reached a ground-breaking trade deal, paving the way for Beijing s membership of the World Trade Organisation.
After five days of negotiations, European Union trade commissioner Pascal Lamy and Chinese foreign trade minister Shi Guangsheng signed the agreement.
It came after the intervention of Prime Minister Zhu Rongji, whose involvement was also crucial in clinching a similar trade deal between the US and China last November.
He has long been a supporter of opening up China s vast market of nearly 1.3bn people as a means of jump-starting the country s stagnant state-run industries.
He is also in favour of opening up export markets and encouraging foreign investment.