The Chinese Premier has declared that China remains open towards the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade negotiations that are currently being conducted under the leadership of the US, although there had been suggestions previously that China could regard the negotiations are being opposed to their interests in the region. The Premier suggested that China would welcome a successful conclusion to the negotiations if they contributed to increasing trade. The TPP negotiations involve a number of countries from the Asia Pacific region including Australia, Canada, China, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico and the US.
China is however currently giving its attention to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), aiming to coordinate the current bilateral free trade agreements concluded by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) into a more encompassing multilateral agreement. The negotiations for an RCEP aim to be concluded by the end of 2015.
