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. <<