China is unlikely to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade deal, following official U.S. withdrawal from the agreement, said a Chinese researcher.

Responding to a media report about Australia’s call for China to join, Huo Jianguo, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said he did not see a real possibility of China joining the TPP for the time being. According to Huo, since America's exit, Japan has tried to become the new leader of the TPP, but it doesn't possess the ability. Japan has tried to draw Australia and Singapore to its side, and is still holding out hope that the U.S. will rejoin at some point.

Commenting on Trump’s executive order to withdraw from the TPP, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said, “China will forge ahead with the negotiation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and construction of the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) so as to add new impetus to regional and global economic development."

The TPP, a free trade pact between 12 Asia-Pacific countries, was formally signed last February after more than five years of negotiation. China is not part of the TPP.