Alliance with democracies: Joe Biden wants to stand up to China's trading power

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US President-designate Biden: "We make up 25 percent of the world economy"

Photo: Isaac Brekken / AP

After taking office as US President, Joe Biden wants to counter China's growing influence.

"We make up 25 percent of the world economy," said the Democrat about the United States at a press conference in the US state of Delaware.

"We have to be in line with other democracies - with another 25 percent or even more - so that we can set the trade rules so that China and others don't dictate the rules because they are the most commonly available option."

When asked if the US would join the Asia-centered RCEP with 15 countries, Biden said he was unable to discuss US trade policy because he had not yet assumed office "and there is only one president at a time. «

In the middle of the trade dispute with the USA, China and 14 other Asia-Pacific countries forged the world's largest free trade bloc, which covers 30 percent of the global economy and 30 percent of the world's population and for the first time unites the Asian powers China, Japan and South Korea.

The new Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) also includes the ten Asean states Vietnam, the Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Brunei, Laos and Cambodia as well as Australia and New Zealand.

In addition, the USA, as the world's largest economy, is left out of a second trade pact in the Asia-Pacific region after President Donald Trump withdrew from the TPP agreement negotiated by his predecessor Barack Obama in 2017.

Biden said he has a detailed plan that he would unveil on January 21, 2021 - the day after he is due to be sworn in as the 46th President of the United States.

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dab / Reuters