China’s CPTPP trade aspirations still hinge on bloc’s support as external pressures mount

Deputy trade minister and international negotiator Wang Shouwen says China has ‘the capability to fulfil relevant obligations’ required to join high-quality trade group

Chinese analysts see accession to the CPTPP as a means to undergo further economic restructuring that would help clear growth hurdles

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China’s vice-commerce minister, Wang Shouwen, speaks at a press conference in Beijing on Sunday. Photo: Kyodo

Published: 6:59pm, 24 Apr 2023

Beijing is ramping up its call for admission into the world’s highest-standard trade bloc at a time when US-initiated decoupling efforts are increasingly damaging bilateral trade and threatening the latter’s industrial chains.

“China is willing to join the CPTPP … and has the capability to fulfil relevant obligations,” vowed Wang Shouwen, a vice-commerce minister and China’s international trade negotiator, at a media briefing on Sunday. “We hope that all 11 member countries can support our joining.”

The comments by Wang, who participated in the years-long trade talks with the United States, come as its application to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) appears to have fallen behind the curve.

The United Kingdom filed its application in June 2021 and reached an agreement last month to join the 11-member trade pact. But China, which applied three months later, has seen little progress in its bid to join.

The trade bloc, which came into force in December 2018 and now includes three Group of 7 countries such as Japan and Canada, is a large market that Beijing is eager to tap into, especially as Washington has pressed ahead with efforts to “reshore” or “friend-shore” supply chains amid its unprecedented emphasis on security and economic dominance.

The US was originally a key proposer of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, the predecessor to the CPTPP, but withdrew from the agreement in the early days of Donald Trump’s presidency.

Instead, the US has been pushing ahead with its Indo-Pacific strategy and “democratic” trade partnerships, which would diminish China’s role in international supply chains.

Chinese authorities have shown unease over the falling overseas orders, and they appear increasingly concerned about being isolated in international trade, with more factories moving to Southeast Asia to save money and bypass US trade barriers.