
HANOI/NEW DELHI -- The trade ministers of China, Japan, Association of Southeast Asian Nations members and other countries participating in talks on an Asia-wide free trade agreement are set to hold an online meeting on Thursday, hoping to remove the final obstacles to a deal by the end of the year.
Battered by the coronavirus pandemic, the 15 nations seeking to build the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership -- 10 ASEAN countries and the bloc's five major trading partners -- see boosting trade as a way to invigorate their ailing economies.