China and S Korea show interest in joining TPP

Tokyo

CHINA and South Korea are showing increasing interest in joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) as entry negotiations on the major Asia-Pacific trade agreement enter their final stages, US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Tokyo on Friday.

In Tokyo after meeting senior officials in Beijing and Seoul, the former assistant to US President Barrack Obama and principal deputy National Security Advisor said that there had been a "shift" in China's attitude from "rejecting" the TPP to being "quite interested" in joining.