虽然TPP谈判已经在包括海关、技术性贸易壁垒、电信、政府采购、“横向”议题(或“21世纪”议题)如中小型企业、监管连贯性、竞争力和发展等议题上取得进展；但是在知识产权、投资等较为复杂的章节，TPP谈判仍未取得显著进展，TPP谈判能否在2012年完成仍然不确定。鉴于日本是整个TPP与东亚合作博弈中的关键，中国应该在未来一段时期内通过与日本积极谈判，推动东亚合作进程，进而确保应对TPP的次优结果。
Although many chapters in TPP negotiation, including customs, technical barriers to trade, telecommunications, government procurement, and the horizontal (or 21st-century) issues of small- and medium-sized enterprises, regulatory coherence, competitiveness, and development, are moving toward closure, other chapters which are as complex as intellectual property rights (IPR) and investment continue to be controversial. Therefore, whether a TPP agreement could be concluded or not by 2012 is still uncertain. Considering Japan's key role in the interaction between TPP and East Asia cooperation, priority needs to be given to the negotiation with Japan for China's government in order to promote East Asian cooperation process, thus ensuring the second-best result for China in its response to TPP.
