We review this week’s headline news coming out of the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Beijing, including the China-Korea FTA, US-China climate deal, and steps towards a FTA of the Asia Pacific. We also tell you about the new metro line opening in Taipei.
- On Monday, Chinese and South Korean leaders agreed to a “substantial conclusion” for a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two East Asian economies. The arrangement, which took 14 rounds of negotiations over two and a half years, still needs to be drafted into an actual agreement after technical consultation, and then be approved by the respective legislatures…(see here)
- In addition to the China-Korea FTA, leaders at last week’s APEC summit in Beijing also concluded a range of other agreements, understandings, and diplomatic goals. Among the headline agreements, the United States and China both agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions for after 2020; during the ministerial meetings in Beijing ahead of the leaders’ summit the ministers agreed to a roadmap for the Free Trade Agreement of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP) proposed by China…(see here)
- Taipei’s newly completed metro route, the Songshan Line, opened for operation last Saturday, hitting ridership at around 2,130,000 on its first day of service…
(Feature photo of Taipei Metro’s Jiantan Station, one of the first stations to open, by Lzmxya on Wikicommons, CC BY-SA 3.0)
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