China is pushing behind-the-scenes talks to join the excluded Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), U.S. media cited Tuesday (18). Chinese officials are said to have held informal technical consultations with officials from Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia.
It is not yet clear how far China has progressed in preparing its application, but Beijing has been keenly interested in joining the CPTPP, and Commerce Minister Wang Wentao acknowledged in early March this year that China had done a lot of preliminary work and had held some informal talks.
Reports say that many member countries are heavily dependent on China for trade, but the impression of certain countries towards China is getting worse, and labor issues, the operation of state-owned enterprises, and economic wrestling with the United States may also become barriers to entry. If China wants to join the CPTPP, it needs to get the consent of 11 member countries such as Australia, Canada and Japan, but many countries’ relations with China are apparently deteriorating and the situation is not clear.
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