As the international situation continues to become more complex, it is necessary for China to actively expand its "circle of friends" and seek broader opportunities for cooperation. Recently, there have been gratifying developments on China's accession to the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA).
Recently, the Fifth Chief Negotiating Congress was held in New Zealand, and China exchanged views with Singapore, South Korea and other parties to promote positive progress in the negotiations.
He Yadong, spokesman for China's Ministry of Commerce
There are two details worth paying attention to in this matter, one is that New Zealand will be the "host" of this negotiation. As one of the original signatories to the DEPA agreement, there is nothing inappropriate for New Zealand to host the negotiating conference, but at the same time, New Zealand has another important identity that cannot be noted - a long-time ally of the United States and a member of the "Five Eyes" alliance.
As a "values" partner in the inner circle of the United States, New Zealand has been very close to China in recent years, and when Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited New Zealand not long ago, he was warmly met by the country's prime minister.
At that time, New Zealand Prime Minister Rakson shook the hand of Foreign Minister Wang Yi and emphasized the importance of China-New Zealand relations, saying that he was willing to take the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the China-New Zealand Comprehensive Strategic Partnership as an opportunity to further close high-level exchanges with the Chinese side and promote the cooperation between the two countries in the fields of economy, trade, people-to-people, science and technology to a new level.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and New Zealand Prime Minister Jackson
New Zealand's support for China's accession to DEPA can also be seen as a fulfilment of the consensus reached between China and New Zealand during Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit, as well as a continuation of the friendship between China and New Zealand.
Another noteworthy detail is that the United States did not come to the table this time in this "new group" that China is seeking to join, which brings us to the establishment and original intention of DEPA. As the world's first regionalized digital economy agreement, DEPA was originally signed by Singapore, New Zealand and Chile.
However, in just two years, this small agreement has attracted the attention of many countries in the region, with China formally applying for membership in October 2021 and South Korea announcing its accession in 2024. It can be said that several major powers in the region have favored this digital economy agreement.
Singapore, New Zealand and Chile signed DEPA
The reason why the United States did not join is because the digital economic and trade rules advocated by the United States are mainly to oppose the localization of servers and data and support the free flow of data, while the DEPA agreement itself is not based on the "rules" of the United States, but a new model independent of the existing global economic and trade rules.
This is an opportunity for us, as the development of the digital economy has had a profound impact on global trade, China has a large share of it, and more and more investors are looking to the Chinese market, which requires us to pay attention to security and sovereignty in the field of digital information.
However, under the current framework of the WTO, there are no clear and detailed rules for digital trade, so a rule that can meet the needs of the current development of the digital economy is very important for emerging economies, and having the right to formulate rules means that we can enhance our voice in the field of digital economy.
Digital economy
Therefore, in the second year of the introduction of the DEPA agreement, China took a long-term view and chose to join, although it is still in the application stage, but it is only a matter of time before it officially joins. On the one hand, this is because China's total digital economy ranks among the highest in the world and is an important source of development, so if you want to formulate a rule of universal value in this field, you cannot exclude China.
On the other hand, if China can "join the group" as soon as possible, it will be a great boost for all DEPA member countries, and with the current development trend of the digital economy, if it can establish extensive cooperation with China in this field, it also means that it will have priority to obtain options and occupy more market share.
It can be said that this is a good thing for mutual benefit and win-win, and now that China has officially joined the fifth chief negotiation meeting of the DEPA working group, which is being held in New Zealand, it shows that this matter has been smoothly advanced, and Chile, as one of the member countries, has long made it clear that it strongly supports China's accession, which shows that this matter is almost a certainty.
China held a conference on the integrated development of the digital economy
With the continuous development of China's comprehensive strength and the advancement of the Belt and Road Initiative, China has established extensive cooperative relations around the world with economic and trade cooperation as a bridge, and the "circle of friends" can be said to be wider and bigger. Correspondingly, the United States' obsession with setting off bloc confrontation and erecting small courtyards and high walls will only lead to isolation.