China: international trade agreements
Published 4 June 2014
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0.1 Detail
China has pushed ahead with three previously dormant FTA negotiations:
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China – Australia. Talks stalled in June 2013 after 19 rounds and 8 years of negotiations. During PM Abbot’s April visit to China, both leaders called for an acceleration, with some expecting completion this year
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China –South Korea. This was one of three FTAs (along with the Australian and GCC) name-checked in March’s Lianghui with fresh rounds of negotiations held in March and May, and expected to be bimonthly from now on.
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The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Talks which have been suspended for the past five years are to be revived.
China has also been active in WTO international trade negotiations:
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Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA). In February, China secured EU’s support for China’s participation during Xi’s European visit.
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In January, China expressed an interest in joining the Green Goods initiative – a subset of WTO countries hoping to liberalise further.
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Two weeks before President Xi’s March visit to Brussels, both sides managed to resolve two trade disputes (wine, and polysilicon)
China has pushed regional trade groupings:
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China hosted negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in April. This was the first time China had hosted RCEP negotiations.
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At the APEC Trade Ministerial meeting hosted by China this May, China pushed for and secured text which reinvigorated APEC’s support for the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP).
US-China talks on a Bilateral Investment Treaty resumed in June 2013. The EU’s was launched the week after the Third Plenum, and there have already been two rounds of negotiations.
The Party leadership (which came into power in March 2013) is reform minded. November’s 3rd Plenum was their first opportunity to articulate their overall plan. These international trade agreements support China’s domestic agenda. China wants their firms to “go out” – and FTAs support that ambition too. China increasingly also wants to play a role in framing the rules of international trade.
0.2 Disclaimer
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