The face behind WTO saga still hard at work

Joining the multilateral body has done a world of good for China, says veteran technocrat

BEIJING - Though he is over 70, Li Zhongzhou still gets up early and rushes to his office in the Sunflower Tower, brushing shoulders with youngsters in the skyscraper dotted with several famous company names.

Li is the lead expert for the EU-China Trade Project (EUCTP), which is helping the Chinese government in its World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments.

But very few people know that Li was one of the key figures providing vital technical support in the days prior to China's WTO entry. Li, however, modestly maintains that he was "doing some translation work for Chinese delegations".

The EUCTP, jointly launched in June 2004 by the European Commission and China's Ministry of Commerce, aims to strengthen the design and implementation of trade and investment policy and legislation, and regulation at the central and provincial levels.

Support is provided in the form of expert advice, studies, development of information portals and databases, capacity building, training, conferences, workshops, study tours, internships and other forms of technical assistance.

"Currently, about 17 experts are engaged in the second phase of the program (2010-2015)," Li said. This phase covers components such as services, quality infrastructure, agriculture and customs, as well cross-cutting areas including public procurement, investment, intellectual property rights (IPR) and green economy.

"I am leading the customs team to improve the business climate for exports and imports," he said.

Li joined the EUCTP mainly because of his experience in international trade and investment development research, he said.

Before that, he had worked with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva from 1979 to 1987, and was mainly responsible for tracking changes in the international trade system.

He was also invited to attend the GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) negotiations and drew up research reports on anti-dumping and anti-subsidy cases, safeguard measures and IPR as related to trade.

It was also a time that China was looking for experts from home and abroad to support its impending entry into the WTO.

In 1987, Li returned and worked as a director in the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation, the former institution of China's Ministry of Commerce.

"I always believed that China should join the multilateral trade body GATT as it would bear great fruit for China's economic development. Personally, I got very enthusiastic in helping China join the GATT and later the WTO and the enthusiasm continues to this day," Li said.

During the negotiations for China's entry into the WTO, Li was involved in a variety of tasks, though he was appointed vice-director and then director of the Department of International Trade and Economic Affairs of the ministry.

"I did detailed work for each and every negotiation, such as organizing activities, drawing up applications, setting up delegations and submitting forms, and was thus nicknamed the secretary-general for the Chinese delegation," Li said.

The work was overwhelming when Chinese delegations answered questions from WTO members around 1988 and 1989.

"GATT and WTO had no Chinese translator on hand, and we had to translate all the questions into English by ourselves before the second day's talks started, which was a mountain of work. I was responsible for the precision and accuracy of every question and often fell asleep at 3 or 4 am," Li said.

Li planned to return to the UNCTAD for the global assistance programs for underdeveloped economies after finishing the negotiations for China's entry into the WTO, but he never expected the negotiations to last for 15 years.

"Modern technology can benefit trade a lot. What I have been doing all my life is using my English ability to promote the improvement of domestic and world economic models," Li said.

In 2003, he retired from UNCTAD and worked as the lead expert in EUCTP the next year. However Li, the old soldier who has been supporting China's entry into the WTO is now planning to retreat from his lifelong cause.

"I am already 70 years old. Maybe I will not complete the second term of the EUCTP. I would like to take some time off for writing a book on my life," Li said.