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China is ready to enhance technical communication and exchanges with
members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific
Partnership on issues regarding joining the pact, the Ministry of
Commerce said on Thursday. The country is researching matters related to it joining the CPTPP,
Gao Feng, a spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce, said at a regular
news briefing. He made the remarks when asked by reporters about when China would
apply for membership after the United Kingdom announced last week that
it will formally apply to join the trans-Pacific bloc of countries, with
negotiations set to start this year. The CPTPP, which took effect on Dec 30, 2018, is a trade agreement
between eleven countries: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan,
Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Their
aggregate gross domestic product accounts for 13 percent of the global
economy. "China will actively consider joining the CPTPP to promote economic
globalization and regional economic integration in accordance with the
requirements for accelerating its new growth pattern," Gao said. China's annual tone-setting Central Economic Work Conference in
December stressed the need to consider CPTPP membership as part of
efforts to move forward with reform and opening-up across the board. Compared with the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership
agreement, experts said that the CPTPP is an advanced free trade
agreement with a higher entry threshold. It provides greater access to
the services sector, investment protection and guarantees, more
opportunities in government procurement, a facilitative framework for
the digital economy and intellectual property protection. To mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and protectionism,
China welcomes "any open, inclusive, and transparent regional free trade
deals that can help foster economic globalization and regional economic
integration, under the rules of the World Trade Organization", said Wei
Jianguo, vice-chairman of Beijing-based China Center for International
Economic Exchanges. Together with China, the CPTPP would cover nearly 28 percent of
global GDP. The pact, in its current form, generates global income gains
estimated at $147 billion annually. If China joined the pact, these
gains would more than quadruple to $632 billion, according to
projections by the Washington-based Peterson Institute for International
Economics. Chinese membership would bring more of the regional economy under a
formalized set of rules driven by multilateral consensus, supporting
growth and stability, said Wei Xiaoquan, a researcher specializing in
regional economic development at the University of International
Business and Economics in Beijing. "Joining the CPTPP will continue China's policy of opening its
markets to the world. One desirable consequence of this is that Chinese
firms, including those in services and high-tech industries, would be
forced to upgrade their products to compete with world-class firms," he
said. Great opportunities Business leaders said China's signing of the RCEP and interest in the
CPTPP offer great opportunities for global companies to expand their
presence in China and its partner economies. China's CPTPP entry would support the growth of "interregional trade,
cross-border e-commerce and related industries", and create a more
stable and open investment environment for global companies investing in
the Asia-Pacific region, said Johnny Chou, chairman and CEO of Best
Inc, an integrated supply chain and logistics services provider in
Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. The company began to see new opportunities from the fast growth of
cross-border e-commerce between China and other regions in the
Asia-Pacific region a few years ago. It has established service branches
in countries and regions such as Japan, Australia and Southeast Asia,
and built a logistics network in five countries including Vietnam and
Malaysia, which are CPTPP member economies. Ni Yuefeng, minister of the General Administration of Customs, also
said last week that the administration will prepare well for its part in
future talks on the CPTPP.
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