ISDS Case Map
China
The Chinese government is willing to speed up the process of the China-ASEAN free trade area (FTA) and promote comprehensive and substantive bilateral cooperation.
Australian Trade Minister Mark Vaile said negotiating an FTA with China would be "arguably more important" than the Australia-US free trade deal recently concluded and due to come into operation on January 1.
Leaders of China and the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries are expected to sign a package of free trade deals late next month, enabling the two parties to formally implement a China-ASEAN free trade area (FTA) starting from 2005.
The Japan External Trade Organization has established a joint research group with a Chinese government institute to examine the possible impact on the Japanese and Chinese economies of a bilateral free trade agreement.
New Zealand may emerge as the first western country to sign a free trade agreement with China. A study looking at such a deal is to be released next month, and official negotiations between the two governments will start in the new year.
Australian grain growers, who stood to gain billions of dollars in new trade targeting the Chinese food and livestock sectors, are demanding that the federal government fast track a free trade deal with China.
South Africa's trade negotiations with China should be suspended until their effect on the local economy had been studied, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) said on Friday.
Notwithstanding border and other political problems and the low base, India's trade with China has increased phenomenally. A preliminary study has been done on a possible free trade agreement (FTA) with China.
In the face of the rapidly growing Chinese economy and a rising number of free trade agreements, Japan is scrambling to reinforce its flagging leadership status in Asia by accelerating FTA negotiations with regional trading partners.
This may come as a surprise to the ministry of home affairs. Security concerns of the government's intelligence agencies notwithstanding, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) is quietly pushing for a Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPA) with China.
