A key Asia-Pacific trade pact will soon involve China, after the nation applied to join, as it attempts to strengthen its position in the region

The move comes the day after a historic security deal between the US, UK and Australia, known as AUKUS, was unveiled.

The pact that eventually became the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), was created by the United States as a way to counter China’s influence.

However, former US President Donald Trump pulled America out of it in 2017.

Chinese commerce minister Wang Wentao confirmed that the world’s second largest economy submitted an official application to join the free trade agreement in a letter to New Zealand’s trade minister, Damien O’Connor.

New Zealand acts as the administrative centre for the pact

It’s understood that Mr Wang and Mr O’Connor later held a phone-conference to discuss the next steps following China’s application.

The original Trans-Pacific Partnership was promoted by then-President Barack Obama as an economic bloc to challenge China’s increasingly powerful position in the Asia Pacific.

Following Trump pulling the US out of the deal when he was President, Japan then led negotiations to create what became the CPTPP.