CHINA denied Friday it was dragging its feet in opening several key industries as part of its World Trade Organization entry and insisted it was serious about meeting its pledges.

　　“We should say that we have been serious and pro-active in fulfilling every aspect of our commitments,” said Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation Ministry spokeswoman Gao Yan.

　　“We feel that we have tried our best in fulfilling the commitments,” Gao said. “But we are doing things in a step-by-step and gradual way.”

　　Gao was responding to a report by U.S. business leaders Thursday which said the Chinese Government had failed to meet many early WTO obligations. The report stopped short of recommending formal action against China.

　　The report by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce praised China for moving quickly to allow more foreign participation in its economy, but cited problems in areas like farm goods, information technology, intellectual property rights and financial services.

　　For example, the report said China had yet to reduce subsidies to its farm sector. Meanwhile, imports of wheat, corn and soybean oil had fallen short of expectations and new rules on genetically modified crops threatened U.S. soybean shipments.

　　Asked about the farm complaints, Gao said: “They are just imagining those, we have not done anything like that.”

　　(SD-Agencies)