Otago Daily Times

Trade agreement including NZ expected at Asean summit

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HANOI: Southeast Asian leaders began a multilater­al summit yesterday expected to address tensions in the South China Sea and tackle plans for a postpandem­ic economic recovery in a region where USChina rivalry has been rising.

The Associatio­n of Southeast

Asian Nations (Asean) had so far not been ``drawn into the maelstroms'' of those rivalries and challenges to the internatio­nal multilater­al system, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said in his opening remarks at the 37th Asean Summit in Hanoi.

Leaders of Asean, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand are expected to sign the Chinabacke­d Regional Comprehens­ive Economic Partnershi­p (RCEP) on Sunday in what could become the world's biggest trade agreement. — Reuters

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