An Iranian exhibitor brings characteristic products to the 18th China-ASEAN Expo, Sept. 11,2021 (Photo by Peng Huan/People’s Daily Online)
Recently, the ASEAN Secretariat announced that it had received instruments of
ratification/acceptance (IOR/A) of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership
(RCEP) agreement from six ASEAN member states–Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Singapore,
Thailand, and Vietnam–as well as four non-ASEAN signatory states, including China, Japan,
New Zealand and Australia, which meant that the RCEP reached the threshold of entry into
force.
As provided by the agreement, it will enter into force for the above ten countries on Jan. 1,
2022.
Under the RCEP, over 90 percent of trade in goods among countries that have submitted
instruments of IOR/A will enjoy zero tariff, which is expected to be realized immediately or
gradually within ten years. It means that countries involved will achieve free trade in goods as
they promised in a relatively short time, according to an official with the department of
international trade and economic affairs under the Ministry of Commerce of China (MOC).
With the implementation of rules of origin, customs procedures, inspection and quarantine
requirements, and technical standards, tariff reduction and the abolition of non-tariff barriers
will produce even stronger effects and significantly enhance trade ties between relevant
countries, the official added.
In terms of trade in services that cover finance, telecommunications, transportation, tourism,
education, and other key fields, the level of trade liberalization in countries participating in
the RCEP is much higher than that under the ASEAN’s “10+1” free trade agreements (FTAs).
RCEP members that adopt positive lists for services trade, including China, will switch to
negative lists within six years since the agreement’s entry into force, in a bid to further
improve opening-up.
As regards investment, all RCEP participating countries made high-level liberalization
commitments through negative lists on non-service sector investment, with no restriction
added other than the negative lists and enhanced investment protection levels. The RCEP will
make it easier for companies from countries involved to expand foreign investment and for
Chinese companies to explore the markets of other RCEP participating countries.
As a comprehensive economic partnership agreement, the RCEP agreement includes
provisions on market access and rules and will exert a systematic and comprehensive
influence on China’s domestic industries, according to Yuan Bo, deputy director of the
research institute of Asia, Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic
Cooperation under the MOC.
As China and other RCEP parties open up trade in goods and services as well as investment to
one another, the country will introduce higher standards of rules concerning competition
policies, intellectual property rights, transparency, and other areas, Yuan pointed out.
“The RCEP, the world’s largest free trade agreement, was reached when the world was
haunted by the COVID-19 pandemic and globalization encountered headwinds. It is expected
to give full play to the role of free trade in leading and driving a new round of economic
globalization,” said Wei Jianguo, vice chairman of the China Center for International
Economic Exchanges.
RCEP participating countries account for more than 96 percent of the overseas market shares
of Ningbo Zhongce Keyin Electronics Co., Ltd., a company mainly engages in original
equipment manufacturer (OEM) processing of crop sprayers, oil-well pumps, fuel pumps used
in households and agriculture at an industrial park in Haishu district, Ningbo city, east China’s
Zhejiang province.
China’s trade policies have a strong impact on the development of the foreign trade company,
which imports materials from and sells its products to foreign countries, said Jiang Li,
director of the company’s integrated management department, who is excited about the
prospect of the RCEP’s coming into force soon and believes that it will bring new business
opportunities to export enterprises like Zhongce Keyin Electronics Co., Ltd.
“The reduction or exemption of import and export tariffs under the RCEP will reduce the
operating costs of our industrial chain and allow us to gain a more competitive edge in price,”
Jiang said, adding that the company intends to keep close contact with clients and make the
pie of cooperation even bigger.
After it takes effect, the RCEP agreement will enable countries with a combined GDP of
nearly one third of the world’s total to form a unified super large-scale market with huge
development space and inject strong impetus into regional and even global economic growth,
pointed out the official with the department of international trade and economic affairs under
the MOC.
RCEP members’ economic structures are highly complementary, and the region is rich in a
wide variety of factors of production, including capital, technology, and labor, the official
noted.
RCEP will further broaden market access in goods, services, and investment among member
countries, gradually harmonize their rules of origin, customs procedures, inspection, and
quarantine requirements and technical standards, establish high-level rules on intellectual
property rights, e-commerce, government procurement, competition, and trade remedies,
creating a stable, accessible, convenient, and interconnected high-quality business
environment for enterprises from RCEP participating countries, the official added.
