Australia hopes that an ambitious trade deal to be signed on Sunday between 15 Asia-Pacific economies will help improve the country's strained relations with China, Australia's Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said. The China-backed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) deal to be signed by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) could become the world's largest free trade agreement. Trade disputes have hit a dozen Australian industries and threatened exports to China of agricultural products, timber and resources worth billions of dollars. The ASEAN pact offers a platform that can lead to a positive change in relations, Birmingham said. Asked earlier this month whether China imposed restrictions on several Australian imports, foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the measures taken by China were "legitimate, reasonable and beyond reproach."

Source: Mint November 15, 2020 00:33 UTC