Six former U.S. secretaries of state, including Henry Kissinger, Alexander Haig, George Shultz, James Baker III, Lawrence Eagleburger and Warren Christopher, have joined President Bill Clinton in his stepped-up campaign to gain an early Congressional approval of Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) for China.

In a letter to Clinton, they stressed that granting China PNTR is "in our own national interest."

"It is in our long-term interest and that of others in the international community to develop a relationship with China that is stable and predictable," they said.

Current Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who announced the release of the letter in Washington on Monday, said implementing the WTO agreement signed by the United States and China last November would "dramatically lower import barriers for American goods and services."

"Like my predecessors, I believe there are clear and compelling reasons to grant (China) permanent normal trade relations, and that's why I view this as a foreign policy priority," Albright said.

Clinton presented to Congress last week a bill calling for giving China PNTR at an early date. The move has won widespread support from both the business and political circles in the United States.