China-RCEP cooperation a hot topic at Silk Road expo

XI'AN -- China's cooperation with other Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) members has become a hot topic at the sixth Silk Road International Exposition in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

Since the beginning of this year, China has actively promoted the high-quality implementation of the RCEP agreement, providing better services and a more free and convenient business environment for the industrial and commercial circles of various countries, helping enterprises better grasp the opportunities of the RCEP, said Li Fei, assistant commerce minister of China.

In the face of the turbulent international situation and the COVID-19 pandemic, the RCEP has begun to deliver its development dividends in the first half of this year.

China's imports and exports with other RCEP members grew 7.5 percent year on year in the first seven months of this year, while the trade growth in July hit 18.8 percent, according to data from the General Administration of Customs.

At a roundtable meeting focused on China (Shaanxi)-RCEP regional economic and trade cooperation, the participants explored regional cooperation and development opportunities since the RCEP agreement took effect on Jan. 1 this year.

As the rotating chair of ASEAN this year, Cambodia has always maintained close contact with RCEP member countries and effectively promoted the implementation of the RCEP agreement -- the world's largest free-trade deal between 10 ASEAN members plus China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

Som Visal, consul general of Cambodia in Xi'an, said the implementation of the RCEP agreement will continue to expand market access between Cambodia and China, especially for agricultural, industrial and agro-processed products.

With the deepening implementation of the RCEP, all parts of China are actively integrating into this new trade cooperation mechanism. As the host of the five-day Silk Road expo, which is to close on Thursday, Shaanxi Province is actively expanding the cooperation space with RCEP member countries.

In the first half of this year, Shaanxi's imports and exports with RCEP members reached 93.27 billion yuan (about 13.74 billion U.S. dollars), accounting for 39.5 percent of the province's total trade, according to Sun Jinghu, deputy director of the Shaanxi provincial department of commerce.

Takashima Ryusuke, director general of the Japan External Trade Organization Beijing Office, said that, in the first half of 2022, Shaanxi's exports to Japan increased significantly, and he looks forward to further strengthening of Japan's trade with Shaanxi Province in the second half of this year.