BANGKOK: The signing of the world’s largest trade pact will likely be kicked back to 2020, according to a draft statement by Southeast Asian leaders, delaying a deal craved by China to offset a painful tariff war with the US. The 16-nation Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) spans from India to New Zealand and includes 30 per cent of global GDP and half of the world’s people. But it said all members were “committed to sign the RCEP” next year in Vietnam, which will take over the Asean chair. Concluding the deal has been made more pressing by the brutal tit-for-tat trade war with the US, which has chipped back at growth in China, the world’s second-largest economy. The RCEP – which includes the 10-nation Asean bloc along with China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand – accounts for 40 per cent of global commerce.

Source: New Strait Times November 03, 2019 09:33 UTC