Bush's request for China to relax its genetically modified regulations was rejected

Lead: Beijing, Feb 22 (Reuters) - U.S President George W Bush again asked China to be flexible in implementing genetically modified regulations at a meeting with Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Zhenji on Friday, but it seems that Zhu flatly refused He told President Bush that these practices are in line with international practice The U.S hopes to postpone or relax these Regulations on the import of genetically modified food, which threaten to sell 1 billion dollars worth of soybeans to China every year Bush mentioned the issue during his official visit to China on Thursday and Friday when he met with Premier Zhu Yuji The focus of the talks was on the need for China to adhere to its commitment to open markets after its accession to the WTO Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said at a press conference that Premier Zhu explained that China's approach is fully in line with international practice U.S officials said Bush again referred to the issues raised during Thursday's meeting with President Jiang Zemin, but they did not resolve them On Thursday, U.S agriculture officials said the United States may consider appealing to China through the world trade organization unless Beijing quickly resolves the issues raised by the regulations, because Washington believes that China's genetically modified regulations are actually trade barriers However, kongquan defended the regulation, saying that many countries in Europe and Asia now require the labeling of genetically modified food China's practice is actually the same as those of these countries Kong did not give details of the discussions, but said the meeting gave Bush a better understanding of China's policies US officials declined to comment Traders say it is unlikely that China will delay the implementation of the regulations now, but the government may loosen its approval A trader at a global trading company in Shanghai said that although he hoped to solve the problem as soon as possible, it would be too happy to think that Bush has made great progress on this issue Two U.S senators have asked China to postpone the implementation of the regulations for 12 to 15 months, but traders believe it is unlikely Traders said the Chinese government would not change the implementation date, but as a compromise, it could make procedures such as obtaining security certificates easier and shorter China is the largest buyer of soybeans from the United States, which is the world's number one soybean producer, with 70% of us soybeans genetically modified Despite differences over soybeans, Bush praised China for its economic progress Bush told Zhu that Asian economy is facing difficulties, but China's economy is developing healthily and rapidly China's annual economic growth rate reached 7.3% in 2001, making it the fastest growing country in Asia Zhu called on Bush to revive the sluggish US economy as soon as possible to help the world and China The United States is the second largest trading partner of China after Japan, while China is the fourth largest trading partner of the United States Last year, bilateral trade exceeded US $80 billion.