Xi Jinping said China is willing to negotiate TPP

Although he did not make any specific commitments, Xi Jinping stated that China will “adopt an active and open attitude in negotiations on issues such as the digital economy, trade and environment, industrial subsidies, and state-owned enterprises.”

The unfair advantage of China’s powerful state-owned entities over private-sector competitors has been a long-standing problem, causing concerns among its trading partners.

Xi Jinping stated that China will encourage more foreign investment in telecommunications and healthcare, and promised to “actively” join the global effort to combat climate change.

However, after he did not attend the Glasgow Climate Summit and China did not make any new commitments to combat global warming, his words sounded hollow to many observers. China has pledged to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 and is the world’s largest carbon emitter.

Xi Jinping’s speech reiterated his remarks when he criticized trade protectionism under the leadership of the Trump administration in the United States last year. Although he has repeatedly promised to open up the world’s second largest economy, Australian exporters and foreign companies are finding it increasingly difficult to do business in China.

The Australian Trade Commission stated that more than 100 Australian companies participated in the CIIE this year. The event was launched in 2018 and aims to showcase the potential of the Chinese consumer market. In the past, the Australian Minister of Trade and hundreds of business leaders participated in the event every year. However, China’s borders are now closed to international tourists.

Xi Jinping also emphasized China’s contribution to the pandemic, saying that China exported 350 billion masks, more than 4 billion protective clothing, more than 6 billion test kits, and more than 1.6 billion doses of vaccines.

China is one of the few countries that is still pursuing a zero-case strategy because of concerns that vaccines produced in China are not as effective as those produced by Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna. So far, it has successfully controlled the outbreak of the delta variant of COVID-19 through lockdowns, travel restrictions, and extensive testing and contact tracing.

Xi Jinping reiterated China’s desire to join the trade partnership.

Australia warned in September that China must end its economic and trade coercion campaign and reopen ministerial-level trade negotiations, which is a prerequisite for starting negotiations on its accession to the trade agreement.

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) composed of 15 member states including China was fully approved this week and will take effect on January 1.