As the 16th China WTO working party met in Geneva, the nation's 15-year bid to gain admission to the global trade body moved closer to conclusion.

China has pledged a new round of opening up with WTO accession.

It is widely acknowledged that bringing China, the world's seventh largest exporter and eighth largest importer, into the WTO will have a positive impact on the global economy.

The country's determination to reform its economy according to international standards has boosted the confidence of foreign investors .

Leading the latest call for greater efforts to attract foreign investment was President Jiang Zemin who emphasized foreign participation in the country's economic restructuring at the National Conference on Utilizing Foreign Direct Investment held last week in Beijing.

Foreign businessmen were assured by the president's vow that the country would continue to open more sectors to foreign investment and improve the legal system's protection of foreign investments.

Utilizing foreign investment has proven to be an effective way to facilitate reforms and boost economic development.

In the past decade, the country has made many remarkable achievements by absorbing foreign investment. Since 1993, China has attracted the largest amount of foreign investment of all developing countries for eight years in succession.

Statistics indicate that more than US$290 billion in foreign funds were invested in China over the past five years, an increase of 79.6 per cent over the Eighth Five-Year Plan (1991-95).

As economic globalization deepens, China, along with the rest of the world, is undergoing an economic restructuring of far-reaching influence.

To maintain sustainable and rapid development of the national economy, China needs to make better use of foreign capital and foreign experience.

As a result of the country's impending WTO accession, Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation Shi Guangsheng declared last week that three changes will take place in China's reform drive: completion of the country's opening-up, a move from interim regulations to a predictable governing framework, and from unilateral to multilateral economic changes as a WTO member.

China will adjust its regulations concerning foreign investment so as to create a unified, stable, transparent and predictable policy environment for foreign businesses.

The way China attracts overseas investment will therefore change in the 2001-05 period from directly attracting foreign capital to paying more attention to the import of advanced technology, modern management techniques and high-level professionals.

It is believed that such changes will create numerous business opportunities for domestic enterprises and global investors.