The Director-General of the World Trade Organization says, the Doha world trade talks are close to being finalized. Pascal Lamy says participants are preparing for a final agreement, but there's no point setting an artificial deadline.

The Doha talks were first launched in 2001, with the aim of breaking down barriers to global commerce. But talks have been deadlocked, largely due to differences between the U.S. and emerging economies.

The U.S. says negotiations faltered because of a refusal by China and other emerging economies, to open their markets. But Lamy says China is abiding by the rules, and debates over statistical trade surpluses are artificial and irrelevant.

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