China may join trade pact that replaced Trans-Pacific Partnership, Xi Jinping tells Apec
- Participation in the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement is being considered by Beijing
- ‘We must continue to promote regional economic integration and strive to establish an Asia-Pacific free-trade zone,’ Chinese president says
China will actively consider joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (CPTPP), while the Asia-Pacific region must defend multilateralism and promote free and open trade and investment, Chinese President Xi Jinping said at the online Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit on Friday.
“Along the way, Apec, which is committed to promoting regional economic integration, has made considerable progress and played an important role in leading the evolution of the multilateral trading system,” said Xi, who spoke via video link at the invitation of the forum’s host, Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.
“However, free and open trade and investment cannot be realised overnight,” Xi added.
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He stressed that Apec had never been a zero-sum game where the winner takes all. Instead, he said the 21-nation body should promote win-win development for its members.
As such, the Asia-Pacific region must continue to lead the way, Xi said, to “unswervingly support the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization as the key body, promote free and open trade and investment, and guide globalisation to become open, inclusive, balanced and win-win,” state broadcaster CCTV quoted him as saying.
“We must continue to promote regional economic integration and strive to establish an Asia-Pacific free-trade zone at an early date,” he said, adding that unilateralism exacerbated risks for the global economy.
US President Donald Trump, who has been critical of the WTO and launched a trade war with China, also called in to the summit – the first time he has participated since 2017 – but his comments were not made public.