Political trust key to promote free trade in East Asia

 　　BEIJING, May 12 (Xinhua) -- A decade of researching whether a free trade area (FTA) among China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) is feasible has been no means an easy journey. And any sign of progress to push forward the talks deserves applause.

　　Trade ministers of the three nations are meeting in Beijing Saturday to finalize¹ a trilateral investment accord and push FTA negotiations³ up on each country's agenda.

　　The conclusion of the feasibility study in 2011 and the nearly finalization⁴ of the three-way investment treaty has paved the way for launching the FTA talks, but that only marks one step forward along the long negotiation² journey.

　　But there is no excuse for inactivity in pressing ahead with the agenda, as previous research has proved that the FTA will benefit the people of East Asia.

　　With combined economic output accounting⁵ for one-fifth of the world's total, China, Japan and the ROK are not only geographically-tied but also interdependent in trade.

　　From 1999 to 2011, trilateral trade grew more than four-fold from 130 billion U.S. dollars to 690 billion U.S. dollars. China has been Japan and the ROK's largest trading partner for years while Japan is China's fourth biggest trading partner and ROK is China's sixth largest.

　　Research has shown the FTA will boost China's GDP by up to 2.9 percent, and up to 0.5 percent for Japan and up to 3.1 percent for the ROK. While the U.S. and Europe are struggling to overcome economic malaise and volatility⁶, the FTA is a protective screen to shield external turbulence⁷.

　　There is no need to shy away from disagreements. Thorny⁸ issues such as the sensitive product list and foreign investor's national treatment should be handled with care, courage and compromise. Lowering tariffs⁹ will probably hurt domestic industries in the short-run, but it will foster healthy industry reshuffling and promote new efficiencies.

　　Conversely, any attempt to manipulate the agenda to gain bargaining chips will slow the negotiations and may have a detrimental¹⁰ affect on the outcome.

　　More importantly, political trust is badly needed in this sensitive region, not only in political affairs but also in economic ties. The three countries need to realize that, and under the FTA framework, their common interests will be larger than temporary losses.

1 finalize   

v.落实，定下来

参考例句：

• Let us finalize tonight.让我们今天晚上干完
• 。At the same time,industrial designers work with engineers to finalize components and assembly.同时，工业设计师和工程师一道来完成部件和组装部分的工作。

2 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

3 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

4 finalization   

n.定稿

参考例句：

• The book can finally be published after revision and finalization. 经过删定，这本书终于可以出版了。 来自互联网
• Lead supplier pre-selection, selection, price negotiation, contract finalization. 领导供应商预选，筛选，议价及合同的订立。 来自互联网

5 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

6 volatility   

n.挥发性，挥发度，轻快，（性格）反复无常

参考例句：

• That was one reason why volatility was so low last year.这也是去年波动性如此低的原因之一。
• Yet because volatility remained low for so long,disaster myopia prevailed.然而，由于相当长的时间里波动性小，灾难短视就获胜了。

7 turbulence   

n.喧嚣，狂暴，骚乱，湍流

参考例句：

• The turbulence caused the plane to turn over.空气的激流导致飞机翻转。
• The world advances amidst turbulence.世界在动荡中前进。

8 thorny   

adj.多刺的，棘手的

参考例句：

• The young captain is pondering over a thorny problem.年轻的上尉正在思考一个棘手的问题。
• The boys argued over the thorny points in the lesson.孩子们辩论功课中的难点。

9 tariffs   

关税制度； 关税( tariff的名词复数 )； 关税表； （旅馆或饭店等的）收费表； 量刑标准

参考例句：

• British industry was sheltered from foreign competition by protective tariffs. 保护性关税使英国工业免受国际竞争影响。
• The new tariffs have put a stranglehold on trade. 新的关税制对开展贸易极为不利。

10 detrimental   

adj.损害的，造成伤害的

参考例句：

• We know that heat treatment is detrimental to milk.我们知道加热对牛奶是不利的。
• He wouldn't accept that smoking was detrimental to health.他不相信吸烟有害健康。