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☆ India rules out joining world’s largest trade deal, accuses China of 'very opaque' trade practices
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-23 | by ( Lee Ying Shan | In Ying-Shan-Lee | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Anadolu | Anadolu | Getty ImagesIndia's commerce minister rejected the idea of joining the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the world's largest trade deal, maintaining that it is not in the country's interest to be part of a free trade agreement with China. Negotiations for the RCEP started in 2013 and initially included India, which some members viewed as a counterbalance to China. However, in 2019, India chose not to join RCEP, citing unresolved "core interest" issues. Goyal noted that at that time, India already had a free trade agreement with ASEAN, Japan and Korea, as well as a bilateral trade with New Zealand worth $300 million. "It was not in our farmers' interest, RCEP did not reflect the aspirations of our small and micro medium industries and sector, and in some form, was nothing but a free trade agreement with China," he said.

Persons: Industry Piyush Goyal, CNBC's Tanvir Gill, Goyal, RCEP Organizations: Anadolu, Getty, Regional Comprehensive Economic, ASEAN, Commerce, Industry, —, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, RCEP, New Zealand, Trade, Semiconductor Locations: China, India, Asia, South Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Korea

☆ Citi CEO Fraser touts 'clear benefits' of diversifying supply chains
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jane Fraser, Chief Executive Officer of Citi, speaks during the Global Financial Leaders' Investment Summit, in Hong Kong, China November 7, 2023. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsNov 16 (Reuters) - Geopolitical tensions and macroeconomic shocks are spurring businesses and governments into reconfiguring their supply chains, and the increased focus on diversification is leading to "clear benefits", Citigroup (C.N) CEO Jane Fraser said on Thursday. Since the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine shattered global supply chains, a debate has raged over how integrated the global economy will be in the future. Some businesses are responding by "nearshoring" - the trend of locating manufacturing capacity in Mexico, closer to the U.S. market - to keep supply chains more stable. Disruptions to the "old system" signal globalization is changing and would lead to more trade relationships and diversified supply chains.

Persons: Jane Fraser, Tyrone Siu, Fraser, Niket Nishant, Manya, Pooja Desai Organizations: Citi, Global Financial, Investment, REUTERS, Citigroup, Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, Comprehensive Economic, Trans, Pacific Partnership, Manya Saini, Thomson Locations: Hong Kong, China, Ukraine, United States, Beijing, Mexico, U.S, India, Vietnam, Malaysia, San Francisco, Bengaluru

☆ China's Xi wants to expand cooperation with Indonesia in several key markets
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a ceremony to welcome participants of the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, China, October 17, 2023. Sputnik/Sergei Savostyanov/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsBEIJING, Oct 17 (Reuters) - China is willing to expand and strengthen cooperation with Indonesia in emerging industries such as the digital economy, photovoltaics and new energy vehicles, President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday. In October, Widodo inaugurated a $7.3 billion high-speed railway connecting the country's capital with the city of Bandung. Widodo said Indonesia regards China as an important strategic partner in national economic development and construction, and "looks forward to further strengthening communication and cooperation with China," state media reported. Reporting by Ethan Wang and Bernard Orr; editing by Christina Fincher and Chizu NomiyamaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Xi Jinping, Sergei Savostyanov, Xi, Joko Widodo, Widodo, Ethan Wang, Bernard Orr, Christina Fincher, Chizu Organizations: Forum, Sputnik, Rights, China Central Television, Initiative, of Southeast Asian Nations, Thomson Locations: Beijing, China, Rights BEIJING, Indonesia, Bandung

Analysts see this as an emerging new trend of trade regionalisation in the eastern and western hemispheres - each dominated by one of the superpower - that could pose risks to global growth. This "will likely contribute to increased regionalisation of international trade, which would raise inflation and hamper growth for other countries caught in the crossfire." China has also applied to join the Comprehensive Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership, one of the world's largest free trade agreements. To join this Pacific trade axis, though, China needs the approval from all member countries, including U.S. allies. "And both of those countries value trade with the U.S. under their North American framework more than they value trade with China."

Persons: Gina Raimondo, Elizabeth Frantz, Neil Thomas, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Raimondo, Trump, William Hurst, Joe Cash, Kripa Jayaram, Marius Zaharia, William Mallard Organizations: . Commerce, Capitol, REUTERS, Southeast Asia, Analysts, Asia Society Policy Institute, Higher, Census, Reuters, Canada Agreement, Comprehensive, Pacific, U.S, University of Cambridge, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, China, Washington, Canada, Mexico, Beijing, Southeast, decouple, U.S, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Pacific

China's application, by far the biggest economy, is next in line if they are dealt with in the order they were received, although that is not a given. The free trade agreement has its roots in the U.S.-backed Trans-Pacific Partnership, developed in part to counter China's growing economic dominance. I think that is completely wrong," Tim Groser, a former New Zealand trade minister and chief trade negotiator said. For CPTPP members, China's application is not the only political dilemma. Taiwan is also seeking to join the pact, in a move opposed by China that member trade negotiators remain unsure about.

Persons: Chris Hipkins, Shigeyuki Goto, Damien O’Connor, Trade Kemi, Damien O'Connor, Donald Trump, Henry Gao, couldn't, Tim Groser, CPTPP, Graham Zebedee, Britain's, New Zealand Wang Xiaolong, Hopes, Wang Huiyao, Antony Blinken, Natalie Black, Lucy Craymer, Joe Cash, Jamie Freed Organizations: New Zealand, Economic, New, Trade, Export, State, Business, Malaysian, Beijing, Pacific, New Zealand's Trade, Pacific Partnership, Communist Party, Singapore Management University, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, World Trade Organization, Australia, Center for, Political, Comprehensive Economic, U.S, Asia Pacific, Thomson Locations: British, Trade Kemi Badenoch, Taiwan, AUCKLAND, BEIJING, China, Pacific, Britain, Auckland, Ukraine, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Ecuador, U.S, Japan, Australia, Canada, Beijing, New Zealand, SOEs, Mexico, Center for China, Wellington, Asia

☆ Top diplomat says China, ASEAN pushing ahead with free trade area talks
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] China's Director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission Wang Yi, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attend a meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, July 12, 2023. REUTERS/Ajeng Dinar UlfianaBEIJING, July 13 (Reuters) - China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are pushing ahead with talks on a third version of a free trade agreement at an ASEAN summit in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, China's top diplomat Wang Yi said on Thursday. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is the world's largest trade bloc backed by China. "We will continue to deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership with ASEAN," Wang said. According to customs data on Thursday, the value of China-ASEAN two-way trade hit $447.3 billion in January-June, down 1.5% year-on-year.

Persons: Central Foreign Affairs Commission Wang Yi, Retno Marsudi, Sergei Lavrov, Wang Yi, Wang, Lv Daliang, Liz Lee, Ellen Zhang, Bernard Orr, Clarence Fernandez, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: Central Foreign Affairs Commission, Russia's, REUTERS, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN, Economic, Trans, Pacific, Thomson Locations: Indonesian, Jakarta, Indonesia, BEIJING, China, China's, Asia, Pacific, Australia, Japan, U.S, ASEAN

BEIJING, May 18 (Reuters) - China needs to level the playing field between private and state owned firms, the Asian Development Bank's chief economist said on Thursday, adding that the world's second-largest economy risks "wasting a tonne of money" with a state-led growth model. The Manila-based lender "consistently" raises with China the importance of improving the business environment and the sustainability of the country's development, he said, while noting that a one percentage increase in growth in China can increase growth in developing Asia by 0.3%. The comments come amid growing signs that China's post-COVID economic recovery is losing steam, intensifying pressure on policymakers to shore up wobbly growth. Private fixed-asset investment rose only 0.4% last month, in sharp contrast to the 9.4% jump in investment by state entities, indicating weak business confidence. "If you look at the history of China's economic development, a lot of the gains in growth, productivity, and employment have come from the non-state sector," he added.

☆ The world's largest trade deal could be signed in 2020 — and the US isn't in it
▼ + stars: | 2019-11-12 | by ( Yen Nee Lee | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Manan Vatsyayana | AFP | Getty ImagesAfter more than six years of negotiations, more than a dozen countries in Asia Pacific are now aiming to sign what would be the world's largest trade agreement in 2020. All 16 countries started negotiating RCEP in 2013, when talks for another major trade pact — the Trans-Pacific Partnership or TPP — were underway. Given China's absence in the then U.S.-led TPP, which was slated to be the world's largest trade deal, many observers considered RCEP a way for Beijing to counter American influence in the region. The final text with details of the trade agreement will go through legal reviews before being signed and released. Deborah Elms, executive director at consultancy Asian Trade Centre, told Reuters that would help Asian producers to sell more of their products to the rest of the region.

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