China's future role in global trade

The US TPP strategy is clearly targeted at China, said Wang Yong, professor of the School of International Studies of Beijing University.

One and half a year ago, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton proposed that the US will update the order of priority for its foreign policies and lift economy above anti-terrorism in order to consolidate its leading strategic place.

Some scholars said that the" US Diplomacy Rocket", which carried bombs in the past, will carry US goods in the future.

With more and more countries announcing their decisions to join in TPP talks, China still stays out of it. Under such circumstances, China has to weigh between two options: to stay away from this US initiative and set up its own version or wait to see the progress in TPP negotiations and find an opportune moment to extend its olive branches?

Some observers see that the US-promoted new trade rules set a pretty high bar in regard to intellectual properties, labor protection, transparency and privatization of national enterprises.

They say China, which could hardly bear such hefty prices to join the TPP, should adhere to existing mechanisms including the "ASEAN 10 Plus 3" and Shanghai Cooperation Organization to push forward trade talks.

Meanwhile, some other observers believe that exterior pressure has never slowed China's pace to move forward. On the contrary, as showed by China's success in three decades of reform and opening-up, the Asian nation is good at using such pressure to fuel progress at home.

The pessimistic voice crying wolf prior to China's WTO entry in 2001 is now remembered only as an interesting episode given the great benefits China has received after becoming a member of the global trade body.