"East Asia needs the RCEP to expand regional demand and sustain growth. China should also seize the great opportunities presented by the partnership as the country enlarges domestic demand and optimizes its foreign trade," Shen said.

Zhang added that China should "strategically emphasize the RCEP, which will be a parallel driver, along with the US-led TPP, in advancing the regional economic integration.

"But China should not be eager to join the TPP talks and should try its best to advance the RCEP," Zhang added.

China's Commerce Ministry spokesman Yao Jian recently said that the country currently prioritizes the ongoing free trade agreements, including the China-Japan-South Korea FTA and the China-South Korea FTA, while some standards in the TPP talks are too high for China to join in.

The US-led TPP agreement, which also includes Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam, is the foundation of the Obama administration's economic policy in the Asia-Pacific region. Negotiators expect to conclude the talks by the end of the year.

"The fast progress of the TPP brings challenges for China to upgrade the regional agreement with the ASEAN and open up more sectors to forge a partnership comparable to the US-led one," said Song Hong, an economist at the Institute of World Economics and Politics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Zhang Jianping, the researcher from the National Development and Reform Commission, added that "China may be more open and flexible in the RCEP talks on goods trade" in view of the country's well developed manufacturing sector.

"But China is challenged in service sectors as well as in foreign investment management and reforms should be speeded up to meet the standards in the RCEP talks," Zhang added.