China’s Bid to Join Trans-Pacific Trade Bloc Highly Unlikely to Be Greenlit: Analysts

(L-R) Singapore's Minister for Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang, New Zealand's Minister for Trade and Export Growth David Parker, Malaysia's Minister for Trade and Industry Datuk J. Jayasiri, Canada's International Trade Minister Francois-Phillippe Champagne, Australia's Trade Minister Steven Ciobo, Chile's Foreign Minister Heraldo Munoz, Brunei's Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs Erywan Dato Pehin, Japan's Minister of Economic Revitalization Toshimitsu Motegi, Mexico's Secretary of Economy Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal, Peru's Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism Eduardo Ferreyros Kuppers, and Vietnam's Industry and Trade Minister Tran Tuan Anh pose for an official picture after signing the rebranded 11-nation Pacific trade pact Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) in Santiago, on March 8, 2018.Claudio Reyes/AFP via Getty Images

Beijing officially applied to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). However, experts said the possibility of getting approved was quite low due to high entry standards and China’s unfair market practices.

On Sept. 16, China’s commerce minister, Wang Wentao, submitted a written application for CPTPP membership to Damien O'Connor, Minister for Trade and Export Growth of New Zealand, the depository state of the deal.