China-led Asia trade pact should wrap up fast, says ADB

Jakarta

THE death knell for a US-led Pacific trade pact creates a vacuum that a separate Asia deal being championed by China should quickly fill, according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Negotiators at the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) meeting this week in Indonesia would normally hold talks without much public scrutiny. But the latest round comes after US President-elect Donald Trump pledged he won't revive the alternative known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), once vaunted as the centrepiece of US economic engagement in Asia.