Britain will become the 12th member to join the pact that cuts trade barriers, as it looks to deepen ties in the Pacific. In support of its application, Britain has said that CPTPP countries will have a combined GDP of 11 trillion pounds ($13.6 trillion) once Britain joins, or 15% of global GDP. "There’s a large gap between the high standards and binding commitments that are demanded of CPTPP members, and where China is currently at," he added. The other countries' applications also provide opportunities. "After modernising the Canada-Ukraine FTA this year, Canada knows that Ukraine is capable of meeting the high standards of the CPTPP," she said.

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Persons: Charles Finny, CPTPP, Chris Hipkins, Shu Jueting, Penny Wong, Aidan Arasasingham, Joanne Ou, Roy Lee, Mary Ng, Lucy Craymer, Ben Blanchard, Joe Cash, Praveen Menon, Muralikumar Organizations: WELLINGTON, Trans, Pacific, New Zealand, Reuters, Centre, Strategic, International Studies, Washington DC, Thomson Locations: Pacific, Auckland, China, Taiwan, New Zealand, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam, Britain, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Ecuador, Ukraine, New, Beijing, Zealand, Jakarta, Taipei, CPTPP, Wellington