In the new phase of the U.S. rebalancing strategy, U.S. Secretary of Defense, Ash Carter, stressed military capacity building, the acceleration of TPP negotiations, and increased use of the U.S.’s network of allies and partners. This will create more unnecessary tension, imbalance, and estranged economic Free Trade Agreements.

The Third Session of the 12th National People’s Congress delivered a “Report on the Work of the Government.” Notable advancement was made in conducting economic diplomacy with the Silk Road Economic Belt, 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiatives, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and Silk Road Fund. More significant openness to the outside world and expanded economic diplomacy are priorities of diplomatic work in 2015.

Asian states will look at potential partners around the Pacific Rim and determine if they are ready to walk the walk or simply talk the talk. So far the lesson of Canada and Australia is that walking the walk requires sustained, strategic commitment, but has a big potential payoff. Australia has been taking concrete steps to solidify its relationship with Asia; Canada has been talking about it, and is only now starting to put into place an engagement program with substance.

Sudden cases of factory relocation and closures has caused China’s foreign investment communities to worry about a “massive foreign capital flight.” With further investigation, foreign direct investment in China is shifting from manufacturing to service sectors. The focus of concern about China’s FDI situation should not be exaggerations of “massive foreign capital flight,” but on the solid efforts to improve China’s investment environment.

President Obama’s sixth State of the Union (SOTU) address was heavy on domestic policy and light on foreign policy. The president did not talk much about recent progress in the US-Chinese relations. Instead, he focused on the urgency to complete the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement – without China. There is a reason to the omission and the focus: the Obama White House is increasingly concerned over its legacy.

Chen Yonglong explains the six “normal” states of interaction that will define the China-U.S. relationship: in redefining shared global power; in how leaders conduct dialogue; in economics; in strategic contention of hegemony and ideology; in their efforts to control dispute; and finally in their cycles of balance and rebalance.

The Asian Pacific has seen a proliferation of Free Trade Associations over the years due to changing value chains, laws, and regional competition. Zhang Monan posits that the FTAAP would be the most beneficial and inclusive solution for the approaching APEC meeting in Beijing.

During the upcoming APEC Summit in Beijing, President Xi Jinping and President Obama will touch upon a wide range of issues, global and bilateral. Here, Wu Jianmin lays out suggestions for what the two Presidents should cover.

Making progress on a China-U.S. bilateral investment treaty is difficult. There are a variety of economic and political factors that could create setbacks, but both sides need to make a concerted effort to overcome these challenges because concluding an agreement would be in the interests of both parties and the world at large.

Bi-lateral and multi-lateral Free Trade Agreements are becoming increasingly important in maximizing regional and international trade. Due to the immense size of China, South Korea and Japan’s economies, it is important that all three negotiate and develop a China-South Korea-Japan Free Trade Area. Increased trade between the three will lead to increases in the size of all of their economies.