Barack Obama pushes for 12-nation trade talks at APEC China summit

President Barack Obama has arrived in Beijing for a three-day visit focused on trade talks and a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Mr Obama is seeking to put his party’s drubbing at last week’s midterm elections behind him. Before departing for Beijing, he took responsibility for Democrats’ poor showing. In Beijing Mr Obama, in traditional Chinese-style outfit, attended the opening of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, where an elaborate choreography welcomed dignitaries. Mr Obama is also pushing the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a long-delayed trade pact that involves 12 countries, but not China.

The buck stops right here at my desk. And so whenever, as the head of the party, it doesn’t do well, I’ve got to take responsibility for it.

U.S. President Barack Obama

The TPP would establish a free-trade bloc stretching from Vietnam to Chile and Japan, encompassing about 800 million people and almost 40% of the global economy. Mr Obama has sought to strike a balance between seeking deeper economic cooperation with a rising China while also balancing Beijing’s power with the TTP. The eight-day tour, which also includes visits to Burma and Australia, will test Mr Obama’s global clout after the congressional elections. Many may see him as a diminished leader on the world stage in the final two years of his presidency. Upon his arrival Mr Obama announced that China and the US would start granting visas to each other’s citizens valid for up to a decade.

What we are seeing is momentum building around a Trans-Pacific Partnership that can spur greater economic growth, spur greater jobs growth, set high standards for trade and investment throughout the Asia-Pacific.

U.S. President Barack Obama

Politics APEC