However, CSIS` Green says that the “critical game” historians might look back “is not beyond the 20th century lower tariffs, but 21st century definition of rules on data, reciprocity, digital commerce, where the United States is a critical player.” Chinese President Xi opens up to other trade and import agreements To what extent will China`s RTAs, and in particular IPA forecasts, affect China`s growth, trade and overall economic performance? The inclusion of all of China`s major trading partners in the ATRs and an average current tariff rate of 10% to zero could make the medium-term impact of the RTA strategy as a single atonement for trade growth significant. The agreement, the Comprehensive Regional Economic Partnership (R.C.E.P., is limited in scope. Yet it has considerable symbolic weight. The pact covers more humanity – 2.2 billion people – than any previous regional free trade agreement, and could help consolidate China`s image as the dominant economic power in its neighborhood. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Sunday called the agreement a “victory for multilateralism and free trade,” according to a report by the state-run Xinhua news agency. “The economic benefits of the agreement may be marginal for Southeast Asia, but there are some interesting trade and customs dynamics for Southeast Asia,” said Nick Marro of the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). The RCEP signature brings together 2.2 billion people and covers 28% of world trade, as shown in Table 1, China has 12 RTA partners (and with 33 different countries or regions) with whom 11 agreements have already been signed. These 12 partners are the Association of Southeast Asian Countries (ASEAN), Pakistan, Chile, New Zealand, Singapore, Peru, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Costa Rica, Iceland and Switzerland. The Chinese RTAs, which are being negotiated or under review, are mainly important potential partners: the United States, the TPP (12 trans-Pacific partner countries), the RCEP (13 Asian partners and Australia and New Zealand, Oceania), Japan, Korea and India. “Because of its size, the global regional economic partnership will certainly contribute to global free trade,” he said. In the early days, China focused on agreements with local (Hong Kong) or small nations.
B Iceland, which were easier to negotiate. The agreements envisaged today are much more important. These include possible participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations with 12 other Pacific countries, a bilateral agreement with India, a trilateral agreement between China and Japan and Korea, a RCEP (Regional Economic Partnership) with ten members of ASEAN, Australia, India, Japan, Korea and New Zealand, and a possible free trade agreement between China and the United States. Das stressed, however, that India remains interested in deepening trade relations in Southeast Asia.