China welcomes TPP breakthrough
October 6, 2015, 5:10 am

Trade ministers of the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim countries attend a press conference after negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement in Atlanta, the United States, on Oct. 5, 2015 [Xinhua]

If approved, the pact would cut trade barriers and set common standards from Vietnam to Canada. The deal however faces a lot of skepticism and doubt from lawmakers in the TPP countries.

China is open to any mechanism that follows rules of the World Trade Organization and can boost the economic integration of the Asia-Pacific, said a statement on the Chinese MOC website.

“China hopes the TPP pact and other free trade arrangements in the region can boost each other and contribute to the Asia-Pacific’s trade, investment and economic growth,” it said.

The deal would aim to liberalize trade in 40 per cent of the world economy, negotiators claim.

China’s Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng said earlier this year that China is open to all the free trade arrangements that are beneficial to the world’s trade liberalization and regional economic integration, as long as they are open and transparent.

Twelve Pacific rim countries sealed the deal early Monday to create the largest free trade area of the world.

US Senator Bernie Sanders, a Democratic presidential candidate, warned the TPP pact would cost jobs and hurt consumers. “In the Senate, I will do all that I can to defeat the TPP agreement,” he tweeted.

Republican Senator Orrin Hatch, who heads the Senate Finance Committee said this was not the pact the negotiators were hoping for. “I am afraid this deal appears to fall woefully short,” said Hatch.

In neighbouring Canada, Tom Mulcair, the leader of Canada’s New Democrat Party, which until recently was leading the polls, warned Friday that the new government he may form will not be bound by any TPP deal signed by current Premier Stephen Harper if he wins the federal election.

The main opposition party, the Labour Party in New Zealand charged the government of making “ugly compromises”.

“The deal falls well below expectations with only disappointing crumbs for our dairy industry and extended patents on new drugs which will cost the taxpayer millions and leave New Zealanders without life-saving drugs,” acting Labor leader Annette King said.

“The government must come clean now on what ‘ugly compromises’ they have made behind closed doors,” said King in a statement.

The TPP talks involve Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam.

In a televised address following the agreement, Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe said bringing in China into the TPP group would be a strategic boost.

“It would contribute largely to our nation’s security and Asia-Pacific regional stability, and it would have significant strategic meaning if China joined the system in the future,” said Abe.

TBP and Agencies