Roadmap to set up Asia-Pac free trade zone to be launched

Beijing

CHINESE President Xi Jinping, in closing this year's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit as its chairman on Tuesday, announced an agreement to launch a roadmap for the setting up of a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP).

He called the blueprint a "historic" step which reflected the "confidence and commitment of Apec members in promoting the integration of the regional economy".

The establishment of the zone, on Apec's agenda since 2006, counts as a personal success for Mr Xi, who had made it his goal to move ahead on it.

The announcement of the FTAAP comes as a blow to the US administration, which has been pushing for its own trade zone, the smaller Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) underpinning the Obama administration's push to maintain its influence…