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Chinese Premier Li Keqiang told reporters Thursday that “China has a positive and open attitude toward joining the #CPTPP .”
The premier’s comment appears to be the first time that a Chinese leader has publicly confirmed China’s interest in joining in. https://www.caixinglobal.com/2020-05-29/premier-sends-powerful-signal-for-china-to-join-asia-pacifics-largest-trade-pact-101560855.html
The premier’s comment appears to be the first time that a Chinese leader has publicly confirmed China’s interest in joining in. https://www.caixinglobal.com/2020-05-29/premier-sends-powerful-signal-for-china-to-join-asia-pacifics-largest-trade-pact-101560855.html
Professor @mahbubani_k , founding dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, told @caixin that he is “very encouraged” by Li’s “strong and powerful” signal about joining the #CPTPP, which would “make the region much more stable”.
“The US has decided to launch a geopolitical contest against China, unwisely. So the best way in which China can respond is not to close up its economy, but to open up its economy. Then China should strengthen its links with its neighbors and with the rest of the world,” he said.
@mahbubani_k also believed that China qualifies to join the trade block. “It would have been difficult for China to take part if another socialist country had not joined first,” he said, referring to #Vietnam, a CPTPP member and another socialist country.
“It’s important for China to talk to some of the key players, like Japan, like Vietnam, like Singapore, and to explore the possibilities of joining #CPTPP,” Mahbubani said.
Atsuyuki Oike, Japan’s former deputy TPP negotiator, told Caixin that “ #CPTPP members welcome everybody who is willing to take on the high standard of market access commitments and the high standard rules ... that’s the statement that we all agreed (to) among the 11 countries.”
But #Oike, now the head of Japan’s delegation to UNESCO, doubted if China would agree to the “high standard” of rules in the CPTPP.
“We can always negotiate some exceptions. That’s no problem. But in terms of basic rules, we cannot change them,” he said.
“We can always negotiate some exceptions. That’s no problem. But in terms of basic rules, we cannot change them,” he said.
Shi Yinhong, a professor at Renmin University, said he questions whether #Vietnam could serve as a precedent for China. “Vietnam’s exports are limited to a few industries. Its government can liberalize those industries without hurting the overall domestic political situation.”
However, other than Li’s statement, Beijing has not announced any “feasibility research” into joining the #CPTPP. The government usually announces such official research at the start of the process of negotiating a new trade pact.
China is interested in joining the #CPTPP but before engaging in formal talks should test the waters with the two key stakeholders, Japan and the United States, said Chen Deming, China’s former commerce minister at a @caixin Forum. https://www.caixinglobal.com/2020-06-23/china-should-pursue-joining-pacific-trade-bloc-former-commerce-minister-says-101571056.html
“We have been keeping an open mind and also conducting studies [on joining in],” Chen said. He was China’s trade chief from 2007 to 2013. He echoed similar remarks made by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang during the annual #NPC gathering in late May.
However, Chen said China needs more information before launching any formal negotiations. “We want to know more about how much Japan, the member country that drove [the completion of] the #CPTPP, would welcome us,” he said.
“And also the attitude of the United States, the leading country of the CPTPP’s predecessor, the Trans-Pacific Partnership ( #TPP),” the former trade minister said. Beijing also needs to find out whether the U.S. would rejoin the mega-trade pact, he added.
Chen had tested waters through a TPP member’s trade minister. “The response from the U.S. side was: China, the elephant in the room, should wait and join in after we [the 12 TPP member countries] conclude the talks,” he said. “If we let China in now, we could not finish the job.”
Chen only said the messenger, who helped him ask the US side about its attitude toward China’s joining the #TPP, was the trade minister from New Zealand. So I guess it’s Tim Groser who was leading the country’s TPP negotiations at that time when Chen was his Chinese counterpart.
