Chinese President Xi Jinping is ready to fill in the political void left following the recent election of US President-elect Donald Trump by strengthening ties with Latin America and pushing for regional free trade pacts at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' Meeting in Lima, Peru this weekend.

Like Us on Facebook

Accompanied by more than 500 Chinese businessmen, President Xi is expected to seize the opportunity to advance and promote the China-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) to replace the US-backed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which has already expired.

Amid Trump's threat that he will pull the US out of the TPP, which he said is a "death blow" for the country's production jobs, the Obama administration last week announced that it would not push for the ratification of the pact.

Strategies

Joining the TPP is one of the strategies that the Obama administration has taken in its pivot to Asia foreign policy which has suffered several setbacks including the Philippines' anti-US rhetoric and Trump's refusal to advance the TPP deal.

Several Asian countries have agreed to scrap the TPP deal and have expressed interest in joining the China-led regional trade pact.

The RCEP is a regional trade pact between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and six other countries in the region.

Non-ratification

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has said that his country would not ratify the TPP and would instead join the Beijing-led RCEP.

Australian Trade Minister Steve Ciobo said Canberra would likewise scrap plans to ratify the TPP and would study another regional pact being pushed by Beijing known as the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific.

Analysts say the chaos brought by Trump's election has provided China the perfect opportunity to win its neighbors to its side.

Economist Arthur Kroeber said Trump's lack of interest in regional trade pacts such as the TPP "gives China an opportunity to execute geopolitical influences and sort of write the rules of regional integration in the Asia-Pacific region."

TagsAPEC summit, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), Trans-Pacific Partnership, President-elect Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi jinping