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The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice-President Kamala Harris clasps hands with US President Joe Biden at the Democratic National Convention on Monday in Chicago. Photo: AP

Joe Biden touts policies for US middle class, says Chinese dominance not assured

Outgoing American leader’s speech at Democratic National Convention aligns closely with campaign message of Vice-President Kamala Harris.

20 Aug 2024 - 11:19PMvideocam

As US trade with Asia flourishes, resistance to trans-Pacific bloc holds firm

13 Aug 2024 - 1:42AMvideocam

Macroscope | Political chaos in the West could force the rest to seek new leadership

13 Jul 2024 - 5:44PMvideocam

Xi urges China and Vietnam to build stronger ties, ‘shared destiny’

Beijing ‘willing to encourage’ more mainland enterprises to boost investment in neighbour as it calls for ‘fair, just’ business environment.

27 Jun 2024 - 4:01AMvideocam

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (left) with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Wednesday. Photo: Handout

US is urged to join Asia-Pacific trade group, shift forces to Indo-Pacific

In ‘Lost Decade’, two prominent Washington analysts say a US ‘pivot to Asia’, originally undertaken in 2011, has failed and that renewing it is critical to stability with China.

18 Jun 2024 - 5:15AMvideocam

Data flow centre walks the talk, China’s foreign firms eye ‘wider roll-out’

Data flow service centre in Lingang free-trade zone in Shanghai will adopt internationally recognised standards and aim to help entities navigate requirements amid China’s push to reassure and retain foreign firms.

23 Apr 2024 - 5:04PM

Opinion | As trade barriers go up in the West, the rest are ‘reglobalising’

As the Global South pushes for more opening up, trade will emerge profoundly different, more complex and diffused. Chest-beating isolationism can’t change how the world is more interdependent than ever.

23 Feb 2024 - 3:30PMvideocam

Vehicles at a yard near Tianjin port in China on June 30. China rolled out a number of measures to open up its free-trade zones as state leaders go on a charm offensive to woo foreign investors. Photo: Bloomberg

Opinion | Amid US-China rivalry, Vietnam’s sweet spot diplomacy is a master class

By keeping all the major actors engaged and invested, while embedding itself in global supply chains, Vietnam is growing its regional importance and strengthening its strategic autonomy.

22 Dec 2023 - 9:30AMvideocam

Opinion | China-EU cooperation needed to safeguard globalisation’s future

Amid Sino-US competition, China and Europe can keep the world on a multipolar keel by cooperating in four crucial domains.

14 Dec 2023 - 5:30AMvideocam

US House panel urges moving China to ‘new tariff column’

Sweeping bipartisan report comprises almost 150 recommendations reflecting Washington’s efforts to reset terms of economic relationship with Beijing.

14 Dec 2023 - 9:33AMvideocam

Republican congressman Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin (left) chairs the US House select committee on China. Democratic congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois (right) is its ranking member. Photo: Getty Images via AFP

Opinion | How Biden’s foreign and trade policy flip-flops are confusing US allies

Biden’s statements on Taiwan, the US-China relationship and trade in the Indo-Pacific are creating confusion and mistrust. To keep his allies and supporters on board, he needs a decisive strategy – something he could learn from Kissinger and other political realists.

9 Dec 2023 - 6:20AMvideocam

Opinion | Sino-US conflict, China crash? Xi-Biden dialogue suggests otherwise

US dialogue efforts, President Xi Jinping’s warm reception in San Francisco, including from business leaders, and China’s still-impressive economic growth say it all.

1 Dec 2023 - 10:08AMvideocam

Amid global supply chain shifts, China eyes Vietnam for ‘strategic’ cooperation

Chinese commerce minister Wang Wentao met Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Saturday in Ho Chi Minh City, with trade and Vietnamese infrastructure on the agenda.

28 Nov 2023 - 9:30AM

China cautions against country ‘cliques’ – but is self-preservation at play?

A Chinese official has warned against countries forming ‘small cliques’ – suggesting lingering concerns over being shut out of important value chains.

16 Nov 2023 - 9:00PMvideocam

China has continued efforts to join trade pacts as it also warns against the formations of national “cliques”. Photo: AFP

US economic approach to China must be ‘serious, clear-eyed’: Yellen

While reiterating Washington seeks not to decouple from Beijing, treasury secretary outlines strategy to expand trade in the Indo-Pacific.

4 Nov 2023 - 12:07AMvideocam

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen speaks during an event hosted by the Asia Society Policy Institute in Washington on Thursday. Photo: Bloomberg

Australia reassures Japan on CPTPP trade pact and relationship

Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell said all decisions on accession to CPTPP ‘must be consensus decisions’, indicating that Japanese concerns over China’s application would be heard.

30 Oct 2023 - 4:06AM

Shanghai backs China’s AI push with new industrial park for data

The International Data Economy Industrial Park aims to attract more than 100 leading data companies with a combined output of over 100 billion yuan by 2025.

27 Oct 2023 - 6:30PM

Exclusive | Canberra ‘will not oppose’ China’s CPTPP trade-pact bid

China has been trying to gain entry into the Asia-Pacific trade pact for two years, and Australia says it will ‘consider China’s application on its merits’ as bilateral ties warm.

26 Oct 2023 - 6:51PMvideocam

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is keen on mending frayed trade ties with China when he visits next month. Photo: Bloomberg

Australia wants ‘new type of relationship with China’, observer says

Given its close trade ties with both US and China, Australia could potentially act as a bridge in multilateral ties, Sichuan University professor says.

22 Oct 2023 - 5:22PMvideocam

Opinion | China is losing sight of the 3 things it needs to keep opening up

The ‘reform and opening up’ started under Deng Xiaoping was about both economic and spiritual liberalisation, but policy regression could derail those efforts.

3 Oct 2023 - 12:43PMvideocam

Britain, New Zealand open to altering trade deal to get US on board

Terms of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, whose precursor Donald Trump ditched, could be revisited.

21 Sep 2023 - 6:45AMvideocam

Vangelis Vitalis, New Zealand’s chief trade negotiator, speaks about the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership in Washington on Wednesday.

Biden’s Indo-Pacific economic plan must be stronger to counter China: report

The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, the US president’s programme for the region, is failing as an alternative to trade deals China is offering, the Asia Society Policy Institute concludes.

12 Sep 2023 - 3:04AMvideocam

US President Joe Biden delivers remarks along with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) launch event at Izumi Garden Gallery in Tokyo, in May 2022. Photo: Reuters

Biden’s summit with Japanese, South Korean leaders looks to send ‘unity’ message

Meeting at Camp David is expected to result in a series of defence, economic and diplomatic agreements aimed at pushing back against China.

16 Aug 2023 - 8:25PMvideocam

Opinion | Geopolitics, not standards, blocking China from joining CPTPP

China joining the CPTPP would be a catalyst for economic reforms that address developed countries’ complaints while offering member nations easy access to the world’s largest consumer market. With Beijing showing readiness to take the steps needed to meet CPTPP standards, geopolitics seems to be the major obstacle.

12 Aug 2023 - 2:17AMvideocam

US should drop pursuit of ‘American primacy’ in Southeast Asia, report urges

Asia Society report says US should acknowledge it is ‘one of many regional actors’ and reduce its ‘rules-based order’ rhetoric, which many Southeast Asians regard as hypocritical.

2 Aug 2023 - 1:58AMvideocam

US President Joe Biden has focused on countering China in the Indo-Pacific, but a new report suggests the strategy should be rethought. Photo: Abaca Press/TNS

UK formally signs up to CPTPP as it looks beyond Europe for trade post-Brexit

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership has been seen as a bulwark against Chinese dominance in the region, although Beijing has applied to join.

16 Jul 2023 - 3:47PMvideocam

The UK has formally joined the CPTPP trading bloc. Photo: Shutterstock

‘Step in right direction’: China to ease economic, trade rules to aid CPTPP bid

China will introduce measures on a trial basis to help with its application to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

30 Jun 2023 - 7:30PMvideocam

China’s Asia-Pacific trade deal, digital economy pact bids backed by New Zealand

New Zealand on Wednesday backed China’s participation in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA).

28 Jun 2023 - 7:15PMvideocam

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The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) was originally known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. It was spearheaded by the United States under the Obama administration but former US president Donald Trump pulled out of the pact in his first days in office in 2017. It was eventually signed in March 2018 by 11 countries: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam, and represents a market of about half a billion people and roughly 13.5 per cent of the global economy. It is seen as among the highest class of multilateral trade deals, covering modern issues such as digital trade, as well as social issues such as the environment and labour rights. Since it was signed, both Britain and China have formally requested to join the Pacific Rim trade pact.

last updated:

9 September, 2024