China hopes to finish talks on creating an Asian free-trade bloc estimated to cover 28 percent of the world economy by the end of this year, Chinese Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng (高虎城) said yesterday.
Gao said on the sidelines of China’s annual session of parliament that Beijing would work hard to wrap up talks for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) before the end of this year.
The RCEP is made up of ASEAN’s 10 nations plus six others — China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
ASEAN comprises Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, Myanmar, Laos, Indonesia, Cambodia and Brunei.
The US has been leading negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade plan that involves 12 nations, not including China.
Gao said China was closely monitoring and assessing the impact of the TPP deal on global trade, and that the Chinese government welcomed any trade framework that was open and transparent.
China would “continue to unswervingly push forward and quicken the pace of China’s free-trade agreement strategy,” Gao said at a news conference.
He reiterated that China was confident of growing trade by about 6 percent this year, as targeted by the government, even though he warned that the nation’s import and export growth likely shrank last month.
China is set to release last month’s trade data today, and exports are forecast to recover after a grim January reading.
The median forecast of 16 analysts polled by Reuters showed exports growth probably surged 14.2 percent on an annual basis last month, recovering from a 3.3 percent contraction in January that surprised analysts.
Imports are seen declining again, however, dropping 10 percent, although still an improvement compared to January’s 19.9 percent plunge.
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