雅思阅读|亚太国家组成世界最大贸易共同体

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Fifteen countries have formed the world’s largest trading bloc①, covering nearly a third of the global economy. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is made up of 10 Southeast Asian countries, as well as South Korea, China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Negotiations over the new RCEP deal began in 2012 and it was finally signed on Nov. 15 on thesidelines② of a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

15个国家组成了世界上最大的贸易共同体，覆盖了近三分之一的全球经济。区域全面经济伙伴关系协定（RCEP）由10个东南亚国家以及韩国、中国、日本、澳大利亚和新西兰组成。关于新签署的RCEP的谈判始于2012年，最终于11月15日在东南亚国家联盟（Asean）会议期间签署。

While China already has a number of bilateral trade agreements, this is the first time it has signed up to a regional multilateral trade pact③.For starters④, leaders hope that the pact will help to spur recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. “Under the current global circumstances, the fact the RCEP has been signed after eight years of negotiations brings a ray of light and hope amid the clouds,” said Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. Longer-term, Mr. Li described the agreement as “a victory of multilateralism and free trade”. (BBC)

尽管中国已签署了许多双边贸易协定，但这是中国首次签署区域性多边贸易协定。各国领导人希望该协定能促进国家经济从新冠肺炎疫情影响中复苏。李克强总理指出：“当前国际形势下，RCEP经过8年谈判得以签署，让人们在阴霾中看到了光明和希望。”而从长远来看，李总理将此协定称为“多边主义和自由贸易的胜利”。

【注释】

① bloc: [blɒk] n. a group of countries that work closely together because they have similar political interests（政治利益一致的）国家集团

② sideline: [ˈsaɪdlaɪn] n. an activity that you do as well as your main job in order to earn extra money 兼职；副业；兼营业务

③ pact: [pækt] n. a formal agreement between two or more people, groups or countries, especially one in which they agree to help each other 条约；协议；公约

④ for starters: (informal) used to emphasize the first of a list of reasons, opinions, etc., or to say what happens first（强调一系列理由、意见等的第一条或表示首先发生的事）首先，作为开头

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