China said Monday that a meeting in Chile to discuss a possible regional Pacific trade deal is not strictly about the languishing Trans-Pacific Partnership, as China tries to distance itself from one-time U.S.-led trade pact.
Representatives from 12 countries that formed the TPP, plus China and South Korea, will meet Tuesday and Wednesday for the first time since President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the TPP in January, effectively killing the accord.
China's special envoy for Latin America, Yin Hengmin, will attend to discuss "Asia-Pacific integration and the next step for cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region, and to exchange broad ideas," foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said.