Twelve countries have signed the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. But it is still early to gauge the impact of the TPP on China's economy, because the huge development differences among TPP members mean it will take them a long time to fully implement the agreement.

High standards and new rules for State-owned enterprises, environmental protection, labor and intellectual property, however, suggest the TPP, once it becomes fully operational, will not only pressure China to seek trade diversion but also significantly influence the trading system in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.

Given these facts, China should step up its efforts for regional economic integration. Since member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are strategically located on the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, China has to strengthen communications and exchanges with these countries especially Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam which have signed the TPP Agreement-to forge a closer "community of shared destiny" in the region.

By inking TPP, together with its efforts to negotiate the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, the United States seems to be building a new trade and investment regime across the Pacific and Atlantic that excludes China. US President Barack Obama has gone all out to make the TPP a major achievement of his term in office and a core part of his "pivot to Asia-Pacific" strategy. And although the White House has repeatedly claimed the TPP is not aimed at containing China, words like "China" and "geopolitics" were frequently used to lobby Congress for "fast-tracking" the deal.

Also, in a recent report on the US' China policy, the Council on Foreign Relations termed the TPP a great strategy to counter China's rise. And in a statement issued on the day the TPP Agreement was reached, Obama said the US should not let countries like China write the rules of the world economy.

In contrast, China has an open approach toward the TPP; it welcomes any mechanism that conforms to World Trade Organization rules and would promote economic integration in Asia-Pacific. China is trying to create a more equitable and open environment for competition through comprehensive reform. Therefore, it could consider joining the TPP and deepen cooperation with the US if the conditions are suitable.

There are also concerns with in ASEAN over TPP's negative influences. Some ASEAN members are worried that the entry of Vietnam and Malaysia into the TPP will help them benefit from the transfer of the US' and Japan's production lines. This, they fear, will decrease the chances of Cambodia and Laos to join the global industrial chain, further widen the development gap within ASEAN and thus hamper its economic integration.

These developments should prompt China to work more closely with ASEAN to build the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, an initiative which suits the Southeast Asian bloc's realities like uneven development and accords it the leading role in promoting regional cooperation. Hopefully, the upgraded talks on China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, once completed by the end of this month, will usher in a "diamond decade" for all sides.

The 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, proposed by President Xi Jinping during his visit to ASEAN countries in 2013, has no threshold or standards for participation. It is aimed at dovetailing China's development policies with those of other countries irrespective of their development levels to better serve the common interests of all participants.

China has formed economic and trade cooperation zones with Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia and Thailand, which are located along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. Such zones have indeed strengthened their economic relations, but there is still room for improving ties with other ASEAN member states in multiple fields.

The opportunities brought about by China's efforts to push for interconnectivity among countries along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road are expected to deepen its cooperation with ASEAN members, especially those that need financing and technologies to modernize their infrastructure.

The author is a researcher with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, affiliated to the Ministry of Commerce.

(China Daily USA 11/18/2015 page12)