The United Kingdom officially joined the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), one of the world's largest free trade deals, on Sunday, becoming the 12th member state of the bloc.
Upon its accession to the CPTPP, Britain became the first European nation to join the major trans-Pacific trading bloc, in what has been hailed as the country's biggest trade deal accession since Brexit.
This is also the first time a new country has joined the bloc since the agreement came into effect in 2018.
The CPTPP trade deal involves 11 countries, namely Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam, covers a market of about 500 million people, and generates more than 13 percent of the world's income.
The United Kingdom formally applied to join the CPTPP on Feb. 1 2021, and on the last day of March 2023, the country announced that it had completed the relevant negotiations and reached an agreement to join the bloc.
On July 16 last year, the CPTPP Ministerial Meeting formally approved the UK's accession.
UK officially joins CPTPP
UK officially joins CPTPP
