China throws a wrench into a transpacific trade pact

CHINA’S REQUESTCPTPP to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership () landed on the desk of Damien O’Connor, trade minister of New Zealand, on September 16th. The location was a fitting nod to the deal’s history. In 1999 a meeting between the trade ministers of two small export powerhouses, New Zealand and Singapore, kicked off what became one of the world’s largest free-trade areas.When that alliance was first mooted, China was a nascent trading nation and its economic heft was piddling. Its share of global merchandise exports was 3.4%. Last year, that figure ran to 14.7%, making China the only country in the world which accounts for a double-digit share.