RCEP shows strength and resilience of regional trade liberalization

Visitors are seen at the 19th China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning, South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, Sept 19, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]   

During the first ten months of this year, China's imports and exports to the other 14 countries of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) posted a growth of 8.4 percent, showing strength of RCEP regional trade liberalization, CCTV reported.

The RCEP, the world's largest free trade deal, covers 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its five free-trade agreement partners: China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia and New Zealand. It came into force on Jan 1 of this year.

RCEP, a new opportunity for the first multilateral trade agreement among China, Japan and South Korea, focuses more on industries such as new energy and biomedicines, said Zhuang Shuguo, head of the investment and promotion bureau of Liaoning Free trade Zone's Dalian section.

It not only helps Chinese enterprises build specialized industrial chains targeting Japan and South Korea, but also build Dalian into the first stop for RCEP enterprises entering China, Zhuang added.

Taking RCEP opportunities, Dalian Port has put more efforts into building a logistical gateway. Its container throughout rose 10 percent on a yearly basis, ranking top among domestic major coastal ports.

The implementation of RCEP promoted China and Japan to reach the first tariff concession commitment between the two countries. Since early this year, Japan has reduced the RCEP import tariff twice, benefitting some foreign trade enterprises in East China's Jiangsu province.

Xu Hongfang, deputy general manager of a tech company in Changshu, Jiangsu province, said that during the first 10 months, his company applied 49 RCEP certificates. Exports to RCEP countries increased by nearly 40 percent year-on-year, enjoying nearly $200,000 of RCEP tariff reductions.

Furthermore, RCEP opens new room for regional digital trade, delivering increasingly prominent dividends. Since the beginning of this year, China's cross-border e-commerce companies have sped up their layouts in RCEP countries.

A growing number of products made in Foshan, Guangdong province were exported to RCEP countries via cross-border e-commerce. Between January and October, these home appliances manufacturers’ export to Vietnam rose 50 percent year-on-year, while sales also doubled in Malaysia and Thailand.