Obama pushes ahead with export control changes(Reuters) - The Obama administration has notified Congress of plans to modify U.S.

BEIJING, March 8 (Xinhua) -- China on Friday expressed patience in negotiations with the Republic of Korea (ROK) and Japan to establish a Free Trade Area in east Asia, saying that there is not a timetable for the FTA talks."I hope we could be a little faster, but we do not set a deadline," Chinese Minister of Commerce Chen Deming said at a press conference on the sidelines of the parliament annual session.

“TPP” might have spelled total political paralysis for any other Japanese leader. But after stunning markets with his reflationary “Abenomics” policies, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to surprise again next week by taking on the farm lobby and announcing Japan’s participation in Trans-Pacific Partnership talks.

China and the European Union could start investment talks in the coming months, the Chinese ambassador to the EU said.China has also submitted a proposal on launching a feasibility study on a free-trade agreement with the EU, said Wu Hailong, who is also a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.

SINGAPORE : Business representatives from the region are urging delegates at the ongoing 16th round of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations to bring talks to a substantive conclusion as soon as possible. In a joint statement on Friday, ten business organisations from various APEC economies urged negotiators to show flexibility and narrow the range of differences. 

TOKYO —Tokyo and Washington have agreed on exemptions for the auto industry in a mooted Pacific-wide free trade pact, as Japan readies to announce its entry into negotiations, reports said on Wednesday.

Mr Santos met with Prime Minister John Key in the capital, Bogota, on Wednesday.Following the meeting, Mr Santos told reporters that Colombia is opening up and has free trade agreements with a number of other countries including the United States, Korea and all other countries in Latin America.

China’s Permanent Representative at the World Trade Organization (WTO), Yi Xiaozhun, has advised the Chinese Government that there is a likelihood that it will be involved in trade disputes, particularly with the United States and the European Union (EU), that will increase in both number and intensity in the future.

In November 2011, President Obama embarked on an unusually lengthy ten day tour of the Asia Pacific during which he met with over 25 heads of state, reiterating America’s commitment to and presence in the Asia Pacific and, most significantly, reaffirming the new Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

GENEVA — As the industry convenes here for the Geneva auto show amid the worst European car market slump in decades, there is at least one ray of hope: the green light President Barack Obama recently gave to negotiations for a U.S.-E.U. free-trade pact.Prospects for a trade pact have brightened the spirits of automakers along with many other types of Continental companies. And not only because it might make it easier for their products to compete in America’s giant consumer market.