China formally applies to join Pacific Rim trade pact abandoned by the US
- Beijing’s new trade minister Wang Wentao submits a written request to New Zealand’s trade and export growth minister
- Former US president Donald Trump withdrew from it as one of his first actions in the White House in 2017
Beijing’s new trade minister Wang Wentao submitted a written request to New Zealand trade and export growth minister Damien O’Connor, and the two officials conducted a teleconference “to communicate on the follow-up work related to China’s formal application”, according to the Chinese ministry.
The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which includes New Zealand, Japan, Canada, Mexico and seven other countries, accounts for about 13 per cent of global commerce. It is the successor to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which former US president Donald Trump withdrew from as one of his first actions in the White House in 2017.
Washington led TPP negotiations under then-acting deputy US trade representative Wendy Cutler, but the pact became highly politicised in the US during the country’s 2016 general election. Trump and other critics seized on the trade pact as an initiative that would hasten the loss of domestic manufacturing jobs.
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Many prominent analysts, including former US trade representative Charlene Barshefsky, the former US ambassador to China Winston Lord and Evan Medeiros, a former National Security Council official, have since argued that Washington should enter into negotiations with CPTPP members to prevent China from gaining influence over global trading rules.
