Is China’s move to resolve Australia barley row masking a ‘strategic’ bid to join the CPTPP?

Name: China, Australia reach deal to resolve barley tariff dispute as Canberra suspends WTO case
Uploaded: 2023-04-17T01:30:28.000Z
Duration: 1 min 26 s
Description: China, Australia reach deal to resolve barley tariff dispute as Canberra suspends WTO case

The move will help achieve several goals for Beijing, including putting a ‘bilateral irritant’ to bed and improving its global trade image, observers say

Most Southeast Asian nations view China joining the CPTPP positively, research shows, with its inclusion expected to boost other members’ gains

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In general, when countries such as Australia and China bring their disputes to the WTO, they are encouraged to resolve their conflict informally. Photo: Bloomberg

Su-Lin Tanin Singapore

Published: 9:30am, 17 Apr 2023Updated: 9:32am, 17 Apr 2023

China and Australia’s decision this month to take a dispute on barley outside the courts of the World Trade Organization (WTO) shows Beijing is keen to put a “bilateral irritant” to bed – but it also masks a separate, more strategic motive by Chinese authorities, say trade lawyers and analysts.

China is keen to get some of its messy trading relationships in order, according to observers, as it steps up its campaign to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), one of the Asia-Pacific’s largest trade pacts.

Joining the agreement aligns with Beijing’s desire to be an upstanding multilateral – or collaborative – trade and investment partner. Analyses show China’s inclusion would not only benefit it but also many other countries in Asia including Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore.

Deborah Elms, executive director of the Asian Trade Centre in Singapore, said Beijing’s agreement to settle a three-year trade dispute informally with Canberra solved a number of problems for China while also achieving some of its goals.

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China, Australia reach deal to resolve barley tariff dispute as Canberra suspends WTO case

She said it enabled China to get along better with Australia while its pursued its soft-power strategy through multilateralism, whether in trade or geopolitics.