2021
ASEAN Briefing | UK Joins ASEAN as Dialogue Partner, Looking at Joining CPTPP Asia-Pacific Free Trade Agreement

... As a Dialogue Partner, the UK gains high-level access to ASEAN, alongside enhanced practical cooperation on various policy issues with the regional bloc. It also enables the UK to join other important dialogue partners, including the US, China, and India....

2022
uk.gov | ASEAN-UK Dialogue Partnership: plan of action 2022 to 2026

[..]

1. Political and security cooperation ...
   
2. Economic cooperation ...
   
3. Socio-cultural cooperation
   
4. Cross-pillars cooperation ...
   
5. ASEAN institutional strengthening ...
   
6. Implementation mechanisms ...
   

[...]

2023
ASEAN | ASEAN, UK reaffirm commitment to strengthen dialogue partnership

... At the meeting, officials from both sides exchanged views on the developments in ASEAN and the UK and reviewed cooperation between both sides. The meeting noted the progress in the implementation of the ASEAN-United Kingdom Plan of Action (POA) (2022-2026) which serves as a guide to further substantiate the partnership with a focus on areas of mutual interest and benefit. The meeting hoped that the effective implementation of the POA will contribute to further enhancing cooperation between the two sides.

The meeting touched upon four key economic partnership priorities that ASEAN aims to further advance with the UK through economic cooperation and integration efforts that are fit-for-purpose for the 21st century environment, namely strengthening market integration; sustainability and decarbonisation; digital transformation; and inclusivity, including micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and Public-Private Partnership.

On the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP), ASEAN encouraged the UK to develop and support cooperation projects and activities which dovetail with the areas of cooperation of the AOIP such as on maritime cooperation, connectivity, UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030, as well as economic and other areas of cooperation....

Guardian | UK joins Asia-Pacific CPTPP trade bloc that includes Japan and Australia

... The government said the deal, which will cut tariffs on exports of food, drink, and cars, would generate £1.8bn of extra income once it had been up and running for 10 years, which is about 0.08% of the UK's annual gross national product (GDP).

Unions condemned clauses in the deal that will allow large companies to sue the UK government behind closed doors if they believe their profits have suffered from changes to laws or regulations.
[...]
As the first non-founding member [FALSE] of the bloc, the UK is expected to set the template for other applicants to join, including Costa Rica and Uruguay.

China, which applied to become a member in 2021, several months after the UK, is likely to face significant pushback from members, including the UK, that will argue Beijing should be blocked unless it complies with existing international trade rules.

The trade secretary, Kemi Badenoch, said the deal reflected newly acquired "post-Brexit freedoms to reach out to new markets around the world and grow our economy". ...

Politico.eu.com | Liz Truss: UK should stop China joining Indo-Pacific trade deal

... The U.K.'s membership, cleared in principle Thursday night, means it will have a vote on whether new applicants should be able to join. China launched a formal bid to join CPTPP in 2021.
[...]
"Now we are in CPTPP we should do our utmost to work with the others to veto [?] China joining," the (other) former Conservative leader said. "We should persuade the U.S. to join as well." The United States ditched CPTPP in its early [TPP] stages under [Mitch Obama and] Donald Trump."...

CP-TPP (2018 FTA): AU, BN, CA, CL (2022), JP, MY (2022), MX, NZ, PE (2021), SG, VN, UK (2023), CN*, CN-tw*, EC*, UY*, TH*, CR*, PH*, KR*

* observer, dialogue, or applicant status