The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership or RCEP agreement was signed on Nov 15 at the 4th RCEP Summit held via video link, after eight years of negotiations.
The agreement, signed by 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN member countries, China, the Republic of Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, covers 2.3 billion people and one-third of the world’s GDP, making the region the largest free trade zone.
According to available public information, 90 percent of the commodities from RCEP members are open for trading, and investment access negotiations will be based on a negative list. The agreement will help to expand trade, business and investment exchanges between China and other countries.
After implementation of RCEP, more quality overseas commodities will be imported with lower tariffs to better satisfy domestic demands.
State leaders of RCEP members highly praised the signing of the agreement after eight years of negotiation, believing that it is a historic and significant milestone.
A free trade agreement covering the biggest area in the world, the RCEP agreement will promote the region’s prosperity and stability and bring hopes for post-epidemic economic recovery against the economic backdrop caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, they said, adding that they believe that the RCEP agreement also will be conducive to building an open global economy and facilitate liberalizing investment and trade.
Signing of the RCEP agreement also shows that all parties welcome an open, fair, and win-win global trading system. They prefer multilateralism to protectionism and unilateralism, with a commitment to address challenges together.
Compared with other free trade agreements, RCEP is more inclusive, covering commodity trade, dispute settlements, service trade and investment, as well as intellectual property rights, digital trade, finance and telecommunication.
