China is the leading advocate for progress in the form of a “feasibility study” on an inclusive new regional trade agreement, the FTAAP. Concerned that this will detract from U.S. regional interests, the FTAAP ironically has provided impetus for the completion of the U.S.-led TPP proposal.

He Weiwen dislodges the notion that the FTAAP is inherently in opposition to the TPP by discussing APEC plans to phase out regional free trade agreements in favor of creating a singular FTAAP; this more inclusive agreement which would serve as the “greatest common denominator” for standards and investment treaties in the Asian Pacific.

While controversial issues like cyber-security, military containment, and U.S. arms sales to Taiwan were not touched upon during the latest Xi-Obama meeting, Da Wei argues that the agreements reached were not hollow, and instead set the tone for operationalizing a new style of “U.S.-China major-country relations.”

The November 11 bilateral summit between Presidents Xi Jinping and Barack Obama in Beijing was a welcome step forward in Sino-American relations. While some tensions were evident behind the scenes and during the two leaders’ joint press conference, on balance the two sides accomplished a lot in one day of summitry.

After more than a year of increasingly scratchy relations between the United States and China, Presidents Barack Obama and Xi Jinping managed to strike a markedly improved tone and announce some accomplishments at the Asia Pacific Economic Forum (APEC), writes Douglas Paal.

During this week’s APEC summit in Beijing, Xi and Obama will hold a meeting about critical bilateral and global issues against the backdrop of a changing international and domestic landscape, writes Jiang Yuechun.

As President Obama heads to China for the APEC Summit, Pang Zhongying states that a review of regional development in recent years has shown worrying signs in China-US relations.

With fears mounting that Washington has lost focus on Asia, Obama’s summit-filled trip to the region is an opportunity to reconnect with leaders and chart a clear course.

The Asian Pacific has seen a proliferation of Free Trade Associations over the years due to changing value chains, laws, and regional competition. Zhang Monan posits that the FTAAP would be the most beneficial and inclusive solution for the approaching APEC meeting in Beijing.

The web of overlapping free trade agreements in the Asian Pacific have largely excluded Taiwan, and the U.S.-backed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) may be an option for inclusion. Taiwan’s unique position as an independent, export economy while still reliant on Mainland China, could actually be mutually beneficial for the region.