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China Joins Bangkok AgreementChina has formally acceded to the Bangkok Agreement, according to a press release of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific ( ESCAP) on April 10.Calling it "an important development," the press release said China's accession could have a profound impact on regional trade relations in Asia and the Pacific and possibly in the rest of the international trading system. M.A. Kamal, chairman of the Standing Committee of the agreement, announced it at the end of the 16th session of the committee which met in Bangkok from April 3 to 5. He pointed out that it is significant that China has acceded to Asia's only regional preferential trading agreement ahead of its accession to the World Trade Organization, saying this marked the beginning of a new era for international trade relations in the Asia-Pacific region. China's accession is significant because it marks that country' s debut into regional trading agreements and is, therefore, an important milestone in its two-decades long outward-looking policy orientation, the press release said. "But more significantly, it also means that members of the agreement will have access on concessional terms to the markets of two giants of the global economy, China and India, with a combined population of more than two-and-a-half billion," the press release noted. China's accession to the agreement will certainly makes membership of the agreement a worthwhile goal to pursue for many other countries in the region, said the press release. The Bangkok Agreement, signed in 1975 as an initiative of ESCAP, is a preferential tariff arrangement that aims at promoting intra- regional trade through exchange of mutually agreed concessions by member countries. Till now, five countries, Republic of Korea, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Lao People's Democratic Republic were signatories to the agreement. Several other countries have also indicated their desire to join. So far two rounds of trade negotiations have taken place and a schedule for the commencement of a third round is being drawn up by ESCAP, which also functions as the secretariat for the agreement.
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