INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
China hasn't commented officially on the latest round of talks.A spat between the world's most populous countries is holding up a
pan-Asian trade agreement encompassing nearly a third of all global trade.Trade ministers from 16 Asia-Pacific countries this week hailed a
"critical milestone" after seven years of talks and vowed to wind them up before a regional summit in November
But officials involved in the process say major sticking points remain around market access and the ability of workers to find employment in
person familiar with the negotiations who asked not to be identified
The person said India was also unhappy with the position of Southeast Asian countries on the free movement of professionals, particularly in
the IT sector, and is weighing whether to be part of the deal at all.Covering nearly half of the globe's population, the Regional
Comprehensive Economic Partnership was proclaimed "the world's biggest regional free trade deal" when talks started in 2012
Shortly after President Donald Trump took office in 2016 and pulled the US out of an Asia-Pacific trade deal, President Xi Jinping sought to
accelerate talks on the Asia-wide pact to cement bolster China's influence.Sticking PointsBut negotiators have repeatedly blown through
deadlines, mostly because Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government is worried about exacerbating a trade deficit with China and the rest
of Asia isn't willing to accept large amounts of workers in return for greater market access
The talks include the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, India and China."I'm not
too optimistic because of the differences among the member countries, especially towards how they see RCEP benefiting the economy versus the
challenges it creates," said Yeah Kim Leng, an economics professor at Sunway University in Malaysia who is an external member of the
Malaysian central bank's monetary policy committee."The big question now is if they would like to proceed without India, which could cause
some big push back from New Zealand and Australia," he said
"Which would in turn make the process take a longer time."Officially, the group is sticking together
Thailand's commerce ministry on Monday released a joint statement saying that all participating nations "are working on addressing
ministry, wasn't immediately available for comment
On Monday, Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar openly blamed China for what he described as "unfair" trade policies
that created "an enormous trade deficit."'No Return'China hasn't commented officially on the latest round of talks
On August 29, Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng said China would play a constructive role and "push for the conclusion of the
negotiations as scheduled.""The Chinese side is still optimistic," said Wang Huiyao, an adviser to China's cabinet and founder of Center
for China and Globalization
"China wants it because of the Sino-US trade war," he added, saying the deal would be a "way for the region to show that it opposes
unilateralism."Many member countries insist the advantages of a regional pact outweigh any lingering doubts, particularly as they cope with
the fallout of slowing global economic growth and enduring US-China trade war
The next round of negotiations are expected to be held later this month in Danang, Vietnam.Indonesian Minister of Trade Enggartiasto Lukita
warned in a statement on Monday that the talks had reached a "point of no return." He acknowledged negotiations remained far apart in some
areas, and some solutions proposed by individual countries didn't work for the "outlying majority.""A settlement this year is very urgent,"
"If not, the RCEP negotiations will lose important momentum that can drive changes and progress in the world economy."Get Breaking news,
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