The Chinese government has submitted an exchange document for China's accession to the "Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership" (CPTPP), an official said on Saturday.

China has studied and evaluated more than 2,300 articles, sorted out reform measures and identified laws and regulations that need to be revised for China to join the CPTPP, Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen said when he unveiled China's latest progress in applying for joining the CPTPP during an APEC business leaders' forum.

This marks the latest move in China's accession to the CPTPP.

The openness of the CPTPP is much higher than that of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), said Liu Baocheng, dean of the Center for International Business Ethics at the University of International Business and Economics. Promoting the accession process by strengthening exchanges with member states and the secretariat reflects China's determination to promote institutional openness and optimize business environment, Liu added.

Wang said that China has taken the initiative to align with the high standards of the CPTPP and implemented the first trial of reform and opening up in relevant fields.

China is "willing and capable" to join the CPTPP and meet its high standards, Wang said, adding that China's accession will bring benefits to all CPTPP members and provide new impetus to trade and investment liberalization in the Asia-Pacific region. 

"China will continue to open its doors to development and actively promote opening up at a high level," Wang assured.

At present, China has liberalized the access of foreign investment in the manufacturing industry and is opening up the service sector in a comprehensive and orderly manner. In the future, it will reasonably reduce the negative list of foreign investment access and launch a negative list for cross-border trade in services across the country, according to Wang.

China formally applied to join the CPTPP in September 2021. The CPTPP, formerly known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), was renamed after the U.S. withdrew from the agreement when former U.S. President Donald Trump took office.

Currently, CPTPP members include Canada, Mexico, Chile, Peru, New Zealand, Australia, Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Japan.