– This is the script of CNBC's news report for China's CCTV on November 23, Wednesday.
Welcome to CNBC Business Daily, I'm Qian Chen.
President-elect Donald Trump faces heavy pressure from the establishment to abandon his campaign promises on trade policy.
His announcement on Monday saying that he would pull out of President Obama's Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) on his first day in office shows that he's not giving in - and for the sake of a healthy economy he must stand his ground.
The trade pact was a centerpiece of the Obama administration's "pivot" towards Asia and was meant to solidify the U.S.'s presence in what is considered by many American companies as the most economically dynamic part in the world.
Trump's announcement came as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in Buenos Aires on Monday that the partnership would be "meaningless" without the U.S.
A refusal by the U.S. to join the TPP would be a good opportunity for China to push its own deals such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
If signed, the regional free trade agreement will create an economic bloc with a combined population of 3.4 billion and trade volume of USD 10.6 billion, accounting for nearly 30 percent of the world's trade.
[DEBORAH KAY ELMS, Asian Trade Centre Executive Director] "I'm hoping we are gonna see a lot more deals in Asia. We have an ongoing agreement here in Asia, called RCEP, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnerships, 16 countries in Asia, we've been negotiating for a while, hopefully next year we'll wrap an agreement up. I think TPP could continue with the 11 parties without US, we have a number of agreements going on bilaterally across Asia,so I think trade id not dead, it will be here in Aisa."
Japan on Tuesday reaffirmed its commitment to the TPP, while other parties are still watching.
CNBC Qian Chen, reporting from Singapore.