Photo: The Japan Times

10 ASEAN members and six partners including China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India on Monday concluded their first round of talks on the establishment of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), one of the world’s biggest free trade blocs. The Asia-Pacific countries formed working groups to discuss trade programs and investment, labor, the environment, economic-technical cooperation, and dispute resolution in order to finalize an agreement on RCEP establishment by 2015. A second round of talks was scheduled for September 24 to 27 in Brisbane, Australia. An RCEP minister-level meeting will be held this August in Brunei. If agreements are reached, RCEP will be an economic bloc representing more than 3 billion people and one third of the world economy.