US–China rivalry

Second of three parts

IN the economic field, the US is pushing for a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement that will encompass 30 regional economies, excluding China. In contrast, Beijing offered its own trade liberalization framework called Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) which Pres. Xi, in opening the APEC CEO Summit in the Chinese capital on 9 November 2014, claimed as his vision of an “Asia-Pacific Dream.” In July 2014, Pres. Xi joined the leaders of the BRICS group of emerging powers in launching a development bank and an emergency reserve fund. The $50- billion bank will be based in Shanghai while the emergency fund known as the Contingent Reserve Arrangement will have $100 billion in reserves pooled from BRICS members Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.