Commerce Minister Wang Wentao submitted China's application to join the free trade agreement in a letter to New Zealand's trade minister, Damien O'Connor, the Chinese ministry said in a statement late on Thursday.

The CPTPP was signed by 11 countries including Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan and New Zealand in 2018. Before that, it was known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and was central to former US President Barack Obama's strategic pivot to Asia but his successor, Donald Trump, withdrew the United States from the pact in 2017.

Japan, the CPTPP's chair this year, said it will consult with member countries to respond to China's request, but stopped short of signalling a timeline for doing so.

Britain in June began negotiations to enter the trade pact, while Thailand has also signalled interest in joining it.