OpinionAustralia has a great chance to engage in trade diplomacy with China, and it must take it

China was excluded from the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership’s predecessor when negotiations ended in 2016

If Beijing is serious now about gaining access to the region-wide trade initiative then Canberra would be foolish not to engage, says Tony Walker

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Australia would be foolish not to engage China on a region-wide trade initiative, says Tony Walker. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 5:00am, 10 Feb 2021Updated: 8:36am, 10 Feb 2021

Australia’s efforts to end a diplomatic deep freeze with China may not be getting anywhere fast on the surface, but there are nonetheless some signs of a potential thaw.

China’s announcement it was “actively studying” joining a region-wide trade pact that involves Australia and 10 other Asia-Pacific trading nations should be exploited by Canberra in its efforts to open lines of communication with Beijing.

If China is serious about access to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) – formerly known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) – Canberra would be foolish not to engage Beijing on a region-wide trade initiative.

Beijing has said it wants to engage CPTPP members on technical issues.

In its original incarnation as the TPP, the region-wide trade pact was to be the cornerstone of former US President Barack Obama’s pivot to Asia. Photo: Reuters

Australia would have nothing to lose by encouraging China to explore opportunities provided by a trade agreement from which China was excluded when the TPP was concluded in 2016.

The TPP, as originally envisaged minus China, was to be the cornerstone of then US President Barack Obama’s pivot to Asia. Among its aims was to provide a trading counterweight to China.