The goal at the July 12-13 meeting in Dalian is to sketch out an accord ahead of a WTO summit in Hong Kong in December, in order to complete the negotiations in 2006.

It will be China's highest-level WTO meeting since it joined the world body in 2001.

Some 32 trade ministers are set to take part, out of the WTO's full membership of 148.

"The Dalian meeting is going to be very important in setting the tone for our work over the next few months and for increasing the chances of success in Hong Kong," said Taiwan's trade ambassador Lin Yi-fu.

The Doha Round of talks, launched in the Qatari capital in 2001, aims to expand free trade in a way that benefits poor nations.

Developing countries are pushing for an end to farm subsidies in rich countries, which they say have ruined their agricultural sector.

Industrialised nations have been unwilling to budge without concessions in other areas, particularly services and trade in goods.

There have also been spats among wealthy nations with differing commercial interests, notably the European Union and leading farm traders such as Australia.

Members faced their biggest crisis in 2003, as the Cancun summit in Mexico collapsed amid confrontation between rich and poor.

WTO members cannot afford a similar bust-up in Hong Kong, and must use every opportunity to settle their differences fast, Lin said.

"A failure in Hong Kong would be a disaster not only for the Doha Round but also for the entire multilateral system," he told AFP.

"It would call into question the commitment of members to liberalisation and to the WTO as a realistic negotiating forum."

Last year, members reached an interim deal which focused on the farm trade, suggesting ways to slash tariffs and other barriers to free commerce, such as state help for exporters.

But they left the technical fine-tuning to meetings stretching into this year at the WTO's Geneva base.