KUALA LUMPUR: Asean countries will benefit from China joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), said Nation-Building Institute (Thailand) chairman Prof Dr Kriengsak Chareonwongsak.

       The CPTPP is a free trade agreement (FTA) between 11 countries around the Pacific Rim, namely Mexico, Canada, Peru, Chile, New Zealand, Australia, Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan and Vietnam.

       On Sept 16, 2021, China formally submitted a request to accede to the CPTPP, which was very much welcomed by Malaysia.

       “When China is in both the CPTPP and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), we (Asean) can leverage both blocs, and eventually, we can merge.

       “China is a big player, the more they join in (trade pacts), it would cause the competitive advantage paradigm to shift in every bloc,” he said during an online panelist discussion at the 2021 Asean Leadership and Partnership Forum yesterday.

       The forum, themed “Rebuilding Asean Towards Sustainable Recovery”, was co-organised by the KSI Strategic Institute for Asia-Pacific and Economic Club of Kuala Lumpur. — Bernama