Brussels, 19/09/2001 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, the European Commission approved the results of China and Taiwan's accession negotiations to the World Trade Organisation (WTO). These results, finalised on Monday for the People's Republic and Tuesday for the "distinct customs district of Chinese Taipeh" (including Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu), were then handed to the Council of Ministers and European Parliament for formal approval. The Commissioner responsible for Trade, Pascal Lamy considered, in a press release, that "the accession conditions constitute a balanced but ambitious set of commitments, that will be of notable benefit to both China and Taiwan and their trading partners". Hoping that the two "may join the WTO as quickly as possible, we immediately took the required internal procedural provisions", he added. Given the importance of this dual accession, which has been among the main commercial goals of the Commission and Member States for year, it has been decided that the Council's "green light" should be provided through unanimity, following consultation with the EP, instead of simply consigning the required unanimous approval to the minutes of Council meetings, as is usually the case.