Britain has joined an Asia-Pacific trade group that includes Japan and 10 other nations during a meeting in New Zealand. The trade bloc covers more than 500 million people and 15 percent of the world’s economy. For Britain, it represents the largest trade deal it has struck since leaving the European Union more than three years ago. 

Britain first announced in March it had reached an agreement to join the bloc, which was created in 2018, after more than two years of negotiations. It is the first new member to join the bloc, called the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. The CPTPP also includes New Zealand, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. British Trade Minister Kemi Badenoch said that it is a modern and ambitious agreement. She said that more than half a million Britons already work for companies from the bloc’s member nations.

Since leaving the European Union, Britain has also signed separate trade deals with Australia and New Zealand.