AUATRALIA’s assistant trade minister, Tim Ayres, that China’s future membership in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership or CPTPP is currently not on the agenda.
Ayres made the remark during a recent visit to New Zealand for a meeting with fellow members of the CPTPP.
The CPTPP, also known as TPP11 or TPP-11, is a free trade agreement between Australia, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Brunei, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, Peru, and Chile.
It is one of the biggest trading blocs in the world, with member states agreeing to reduce or remove tariffs on the vast majority of goods and cooperate on regulations and standards.
China and Taiwan applied to join the group in 2021 but both applications were put on hold while the United Kingdom’s membership has been processed.
Meanwhile, the United Kingdom is to be formally accepted as the 12th member of the regional bloc on Saturday which will increase the trading bloc’s global GDP to 15%.
Other countries such as South Korea and Costa Rica also want to join CPTPP.
The assistant trade minister previously said Australia is working through its trade issues with China “in a systematic way.”
