China trying for regional trade pact by 2015: Premier

While the TPP and RCEP are frequently described as rival trading blocs led by the US and China, respectively, some experts said the TPP can be seen as a US attempt to derail China's accommodation into the regional and global trading system. Others warned that such treaties would reshape the structure of the Asia-Pacific economy and could possibly affect political ties between the United States and China.

"The RCEP and TPP are of quite different scale and with very different potential. China is now a far more dynamic force in world trade than the US, so an RCEP would have much greater potential than the TPP," said John Ross, a senior fellow with the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China in Beijing.

In 2013, China's imports rose by $132 billion, compared with a rise of $30 billion for the European Union and drops of $8 billion for the US and $53 billion for Japan, according to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. China's imports, therefore, rose four times as much as the EU, while the US and Japan were declining import markets, Ross said.

"The TPP, even if it is concluded, will be a relatively stagnant trade bloc, whereas an RCEP including China would be far more dynamic," he said.

When the RCEP is in place, it will be the largest free trade pact in the world.

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