GENEVA (AP) - China should play a more proactive role in bringing global trade talks to a successful conclusion, the top U.S. trade official said, fresh from a failed attempt in Germany this week by four major economic powers to break the deadlock on the so-called Doha round.
China, which was not part of the meeting in Potsdam between Brazil, India, the European Union and the United States, has a responsibility to make the World Trade Organization it joined in 2001 a success, U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab told reporters Friday.
''China is a member of the WTO that has a great deal to gain from a successful Doha round, and a great deal to lose from the failure of the Doha round,'' she said, referring to the negotiations started six years ago in Qatar's capital that are aimed at adding billions of dollars to world trade and helping poorer countries develop their economies through new trade flows.
Both developing countries and developed countries have been wary of further opening their markets because of fears they could be flooded with cheap imports from China, hurting domestic producers.
''If China is just looking at its defensive interests, then I think that's a very sad state of affairs,'' said Schwab.