Finance & economics | Wiping America’s eye

China throws a wrench into a transpacific trade pact

Its application to join the CPTPP may not prosper, but it creates mischief

A lot of heavy lifting to do
|HONG KONG

CHINA’S REQUEST to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) landed on the desk of Damien O’Connor, trade minister of New Zealand, on September 16th. The location was a fitting nod to the deal’s history. In 1999 a meeting between the trade ministers of two small export powerhouses, New Zealand and Singapore, kicked off what became one of the world’s largest free-trade areas.

This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Wiping America’s eye”

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