Chinese fear over 'tragic' collapse of trade talks

Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming today mourned the collapse of the Doha round of trade talks, saying it was a "serious setback" for trading nations already grappling with inflation and an economic slowdown.

The failure was "tragic", Chen said. His comments echoed those of european leaders and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who described the collapse as "a body blow to the global economy".

Global markets, however, do not appear as rattled and have so far shrugged off the collapse of the talks after the US, China and India failed to compromise on when poor countries could raise import tariffs on farm products.

"World trade will be the same as it was before," Andrew Freris, chief Asia economist at BnP Paribas in Hong Kong, told Bloomberg.

"The talks have been going on for 10 years now and aren't going anywhere. There's always going to be an issue of subsidies from the US and european sides."

Analysts point to dramatic changes in the world economy since the Doha talks started in november 2001.

They say trade is booming after decades spent lowering barriers and an explosion of bilateral agreements, sparked in part, by lack of progress with Doha.