On the first day of 2022, the regional comprehensive economic partnership agreement (RCEP) officially came into force, marking the official landing of the free trade area with the largest population, the largest economic and trade scale and the most development potential in the world. RCEP covers 2.2 billion people worldwide, accounting for about 30% of the global GDP. The first batch of countries to take effect include six ASEAN countries and four countries such as China, Japan, New Zealand and Australia. South Korea will join the implementation on February 1. Today, "expectation" is becoming the common aspiration of enterprises in the region.
Li Xi, CEO of Cambodia's e-commerce "smile mall", said that RCEP can allow the goods of member countries to enter Cambodia at a lower cost, which is conducive to the development of local e-commerce platforms. Wang Ping, customs manager of Yangma engine (Shandong) Co., Ltd., a Japanese enterprise, said that in the first year after the agreement came into force, the tax rate of engine filters imported from Japan would be reduced from 5% to zero, which would save 2 million yuan of import tariff cost; Gino Mariani, a shoe factory in Indonesia, expects RCEP to make its brand go out of Indonesia and enter a broader market
Whether it is to let more foreign goods "come in" or help more local enterprises "go out", the most direct impact of RCEP's entry into force is to promote the accelerated evolution of regional economic integration and bring broader markets, better business environment and richer trade and investment opportunities to the enterprises of participating countries.
After RCEP takes effect, more than 90% of goods in the region will gradually achieve zero tariff. More than that, RCEP has made relevant provisions in service trade, investment, intellectual property rights, e-commerce and other aspects, leading the world in various indicators. It is a comprehensive, modern and high-quality economic and trade agreement that fully reflects mutual benefit. ASEAN media commented that RCEP is "the engine to promote regional economic recovery". UNCTAD believes that RCEP will "give birth to a new focus of Global trade".
For the global economy struggling with the epidemic, this "new focus" is tantamount to a booster, which has significantly boosted the confidence of global economic recovery.
According to the prediction of the United Nations Conference on Trade and development, low tariffs will stimulate the trade of nearly 17 billion US dollars among RCEP member countries, attract some non member countries to turn their trade to member countries, and further promote the export of nearly 2% among member countries, with a total value of about 42 billion US dollars. The organization's analysts Alejandro Nikita and misut Jiri wrote that the implementation of RCEP will improve the trade elasticity of Member States and hedge the downside risk of Global trade caused by the epidemic.
For China, the implementation of RCEP is a "new milestone" of opening to the outside world and has fulfilled its firm commitment to continuous opening to the outside world. The opening level of RCEP in various fields such as goods trade, service investment and rules is significantly higher than the opening level promised by China in the WTO. Its implementation and entry into force will make China further on the institutional opening road and become the link and bridge connecting domestic and international double cycles. This will not only inject new impetus into China's economic growth, but also provide a new platform for the world to share China's development dividends.
More importantly, the entry into force and implementation of RCEP shows the strong will of the international community to support open cooperation and free trade, and is a complete victory in the contest between multilateralism and protectionism. Today, with the development of globalization, the world has long been a place where you have me and I have you. The effective implementation of RCEP strongly shows that the adverse currents such as protectionism and unilateralism are unpopular, and multilateralism and free trade are the general trend.
As the world's second largest economy, China has always stood on the right side of history, firmly defended multilateralism, adhered to fairness and justice, and is becoming a partner in the development path of more and more countries. With the effective implementation of RCEP, China will give better play to its super large-scale market advantages and domestic demand potential in the future, work with regional partners to expand the regional economic and trade "cake", let more enterprises share Chinese market opportunities, let more consumers enjoy real benefits, and provide vitality and power for the global economic recovery.
RCEP, the future can be expected! Article source: Ningbo Plastic Machinery Industry Association
