Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says if China participated in the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal in the future, it would have significant strategic meaning.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Tuesday (October 6) that it would have significant strategic meaning if China joined the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal in the future.
Twelve Pacific Rim countries on Monday (October 5) reached the most ambitious trade pact in a generation, aiming to liberalize commerce in 40 percent of the world’s economy in a deal that faces skepticism from U.S. lawmakers.
The agreement has also been pitched as a way to counter China’s rising economic and political clout in the region.
“It would contribute largely to our nation’s security and Asia-Pacific regional stability, and it would have significant strategic meaning if China joined the system in the future,” Abe told a news conference.
If approved, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) pact would cut trade barriers and set common standards for a region stretching from Vietnam to Canada. It would also furnish a legacy-shaping victory for U.S. President Barack Obama and a political win for Abe, who has touted TPP as a way to boost growth in an economy burdened with a shrinking population.
Abe said he will also spur on the Japan-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) talks.
“We have to speed up EPA talks with Europe, aiming for agreement within this year. Japan will continue to show leadership in the talks,” Abe said.
Japan and EU have held twelve rounds of negotiations, the last of which was in September, aiming to seal a deal covering areas including trade in goods and services, intellectual property rights, non-tariff measures, and government procurement.
Abe also pledged to support companies and individuals with business plans to find new ways of survival in the TPP era, in a bid to alleviate anxiety especially among the country’s farmers.
“The government will fully support those who are aiming for opportunities in global market taking advantage of the TPP,” Abe said.
Japan’s reluctance to open up to more imports in agricultural products has been a major stumbling block to the TPP.
Agriculture accounted for just 1.2 percent of Japanese GDP in 2013, government data showed, while the number of farmers was 1.7 million in 2014 down from 2.2 million ten years earlier. (Reuters)
