Substantial progress made in RCEP negotiations: China

China today said substantial progress have been made on negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), in which India is a part, and it will work with other parties to reach a modern, comprehensive and mutually beneficial agreement as soon as possible.

The RCEP is a free trade area (FTA) consisting of 10 ASEAN members (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Laos and Vietnam) and their six FTA partners : India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

Negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) are moving forward, with substantial progress, China's Ministry of Commerce said.

"Related parties are showing an active attitude in pushing the RCEP, and the pace of negotiations is speeding up," Ministry spokesperson Gao Feng was quoted as saying by the state-run Xinhua news agency.

Key areas including trade of goods, services and investments, have entered substantial pricing talks, and the 22nd round of negotiations will be held in Singapore from April 28 to May 8.

The last round of talks were held in Hyderabad last year.

"China will work with other parties to reach a modern, comprehensive and mutually beneficial agreement as soon as possible," Gao said.

The RCEP aims at liberalising norms for trade in goods and services and boost investment among 16-member countries.

China is pushing for RECP after US President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade alliance worked by the previous Obama administration.

Facing threat of cheap imports from China after the bilateral trade deficit mounted to over USD 50 billion, Indian officials say India is specially seeking to protect its advantages in the services sector and stagger the phase-out of tariffs over a longer period in the case of China, to allow Indian industry more time to adjust.