KUALA LUMPUR: The China-backed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) will consider adding new members and discuss ways to improve trade flows when its leaders meet for the first time in five years in October, Malaysia's trade minister said on Monday. Malaysia plans to hold a summit of the RCEP, the world's largest trade bloc, when it hosts the annual gathering of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Kuala Lumpur.
The RCEP - which includes all 10 ASEAN members as well as China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand - has not held an official leaders' meeting since November 2020, when they signed a trade deal aimed at lowering tariffs, boosting investment and allowing freer movement of goods within the region.
