China pushes for Asia-Pacific trade agreement membership, promises to ‘actively attract’ foreign investment
- Vice-minister for commerce Wang Shouwen says China ‘willing to and capable of’ joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)
- Accession requires approval by all members, and China seen as unable to meet labour and ownership standards
China has been pushing for membership in a high-level Asia-Pacific trade and investment pact and will step up efforts to attract foreign investment, according to the country’s top trade negotiator.
Wang Shouwen, China’s vice-minister for commerce, said Beijing had researched more than 2,300 clauses and items in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and combed through the reforms, laws and regulations that the country needed to carry out and revise for membership.
Speaking at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) China CEO Forum 2023 in Beijing on Saturday, Wang said China had submitted a document to the members and was “willing to and capable of” joining the pact.
“China is proactively aligning its own trade standards to the high thresholds of the CPTPP by piloting test sites for [market] opening, and we will provide new free-trade impetus to the region.”