No. _______________WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONS/SECRET/7
8 January 2004
(04-0054)
Trade in Services Original:  English
COMMUNICATION FROM THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
AND ITS MEMBER STATES
AND THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Agreement under Paragraph 4 of the Procedures for the Implementation of Article XXI
of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) (S/L/80)
The following communication, dated 16 December 2003, is being circulated at the request of
the delegations of the European Communities and its Member States and the People's Republic of
China.
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1. The following communication from the European Communities and its Member States and
the People's Republic of China to the Council for Tr ade in Services is circulated in accordance with
paragraph 4 of the Procedures for the Implementation of Ar ticle XXI of the General Agreement on
Trade in Services (GATS) (S/L/80), adopted by the Council for Trade in Services on 19 July 1999.
2. On 9 April 2003 the European Communities and its Member States submitted a
Communication pursuant to Article V of the GAT S (circulated as document S/C/N/231, dated
10 July 2003), whereby they notified the intention to modify or withdraw the specific commitments
included in the list attached to the communication, pursuant to Article V:5 and in accordance with the
terms of Article XXI:1(b).  Following the submi ssion of that communication, China submitted a claim
of interest pursuant to Article XXI:2(a) of the GATS (circulated as document S/L/137).
3. According to the Procedures for the Implemen tation of Article XXI of the GATS (S/L/80),
the period for negotiations, which should expire three months after the last date when a claim of
interest could have been made, may be extended by mutual agreement.
4. The European Communities and its Member States, of the one part, and the People's Republic
of China, of the other part, hereby notify that they have mutually agreed to extend the period for
negotiations mentioned above until 1 June 2004.
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