BEIJING — Ministers of 21 Asia-Pacific economies on Saturday adopted a roadmap towards the creation of a new free trade zone and agreed to launch a study on the possibility of realising the scheme over the next two years as new steps to further strengthen regional integration.
hinese Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng (left) and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi take part in a press conference on Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit related meetings at the China National Convention Center (CNCC) in Beijing. (AFP photo)
They agreed to seek the establishment of the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) "as early as possible" and start a "collective strategic study" to that end, instructing officials to report the results to ministers by 2016, according to a joint statement announced following a two-day ministerial meeting in Beijing.
Leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum are expected to endorse the roadmap at a two-day summit from Monday.
But more detailed steps for realising the Chinese-backed vision of the Apec-wide trade area are not mentioned in the statement due to US and Japanese reluctance even though China had sought to fix a target date of 2025 for creating the FTAAP, negotiations sources said.
The United States and its allies including Japan also blocked China's effort to launch a "feasibility study" which would have meant the effective launch of negotiations for the FTAAP, as they seek to prioritise ongoing talks for a narrower, US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement that does not include China.
The idea of the FTAAP was first put forward in 2006 and it has been discussed among the Apec countries since, but few concrete steps have been taken to crystallize the vision.