Debate on China's TPP role regains momentum

Should China join the talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership? The old debate seems to have regained momentum.
But Zhang Yansheng, secretary-general of the Academic Committee of the National Development and Reform Commission, expressed reservations at the same panel.
He argued that the circumstances prevailing when China prepared to join the WTO were very different from those now.
"We were very sure that China wanted to participate in globalization. Joining the WTO was the chance. We were also quite sure that China wanted to adjust itself to international business norms," said Zhang.
"Now the US is pushing for the TPP, as well as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with the European Union. Is it launched for China's new round of reform?" he asked.
He said there are voices in the West doubting whether globalization, launched by the West, really served the West's interests.
After all, China has jumped from being the seventh-largest economy before entering the WTO to the second spot now. Its foreign trade now represents more than 10 percent of the global total.


Source: China Daily
Time: 2013-07-11