HAIKOU,
China, May 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Regional
Comprehensive Economic Partnership — a free trade agreement that
has created the world's largest trading group — is sending a strong
signal in favor of open markets, fair competition and rules-based
trade at a time when protectionist tendencies and trade tensions
are posing challenges to stable supply chains and global economic
recovery, officials and experts said on Sunday.
China, as the largest economy within the RCEP framework, will
work closely with other member countries to unlock the full
potential of the agreement and ensure that its benefits are shared
by all for win-win cooperation, they said at the fourth edition of
the RCEP Media and Think Tank Forum in Haikou, Hainan province.
The RCEP, with its vast regional population, substantial GDP and
significant volume of goods trade, each accounting for
approximately 30 percent of the global share, took full effect in
June last year among its 15 signatory countries — China,
Australia, Japan, New
Zealand, South Korea and
the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations.
Looking ahead, the RCEP is set to unleash more vitality as
member countries make significant strides in enhancing connectivity
and boosting trade and investment, said Hu Kaihong, a member of the
Affairs Council of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party
of China Central Committee.
Thanks to provisions such as tariff reductions, cumulative rules
of origin and streamlined customs procedures, the agreement has
facilitated the continuous entry of high-quality products from
member countries into the Chinese market over the past few
years.
Last year, the total import and export volume between China and
other RCEP members reached 12.6 trillion
yuan ($1.7 trillion),
statistics from the General Administration of Customs showed. This
accounted for 30.2 percent of China's total foreign trade, a 5.3
percent increase compared with 2021, the year before the agreement
came into force.
Yin Libo, vice-governor of the
Hainan provincial government, said
the agreement's multiple effects of trade creation, growth
promotion and job generation have brought a rare sense of certainty
to a world grappling with mounting uncertainties.
Hainan, in particular, will
capitalize on the combined advantages of the RCEP and the policies
of its free trade port, to foster a base for Chinese companies
venturing into international markets and a hub for overseas
enterprises seeking entry into the Chinese market, Yin said.
Last year, Chinese enterprises enjoyed a reduction of import
duties worth 2.36 billion yuan within
the RCEP framework. Importing enterprises based in the RCEP trading
partners' economies also benefited immensely from preferential
treatment, to the tune of 4.05 billion
yuan, data from the Ministry of Commerce showed.
Qu Yingpu, publisher and editor-in-chief of China Daily, said the world today is far from
being peaceful, with conflicts and disputes arising one after
another. Narratives of a new Cold War or confrontation are all too
common, and there are those who advocate "decoupling and severing
supply chains" and creating "small yard, high fence", he said.
The World Trade Organization said in April that it expected
global trade in goods volume to increase 2.6 percent this year,
indicating a decrease of 0.7 percentage point compared with the
prediction made in October. It warned that geopolitical tensions
continue to pose a significant risk to its outlook, as signs of
trade fragmentation rise.
The RCEP must further boost the utilization of its rules,
upgrade rules and standards, and broaden the scope of cooperation,
Qu said. By doing so, it can continue to unleash policy dividends
and strengthen the efforts in building a better world, he
added.
The RCEP is projected to drive an annual increase of
$186 billion in global GDP by the
year 2030, according to the Washington-based Peterson Institute for
International Economics.
Chi Fulin, president of the China
Institute for Reform and Development, said that due to the short
implementation time and low awareness of enterprises, the rate of
some members' use of RCEP rules is still low.
Speeding up improvement of the rate of utilization of RCEP rules
will further enhance the vitality of the large regional market, he
said.
With the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region playing a key
role as an international trade center, international financial
center and international arbitration center, its accession to the
RCEP, if it becomes a reality, will play a unique role in promoting
the RCEP regional market, Chi said.
At the same time, research and communication on issues that
concern India should be
strengthened to attract the South Asian country's interest in
rejoining the RCEP, he added.
Kao Kim Hourn, secretary-general
of ASEAN, said that the RCEP must work for all businesses, with a
particular focus on micro, small and medium-sized enterprises,
which account for on average more than 95 percent of registered
businesses and provide between 30 percent and 85 percent of total
employment in RCEP economies.
The MSMEs must be furnished with the necessary know-how to take
advantage of the RCEP and other free trade associations to grow our
businesses and economies together and leave no one behind, he
added.
Shi Zhongjun, secretary-general of the ASEAN-China Center, said
that against the backdrop of declining global openness, rising
trade costs and bottlenecks of supply chains in the world, the RCEP
could promote the free flow of production factors in a wider scope,
realize the optimal allocation of production factors, promote the
specialized division of labor and spur more new quality productive
forces and innovations.
Such efforts will help regional cooperation advance toward a
more inclusive, modern, comprehensive and mutually beneficial
direction, Shi said.
The forum, themed "Shared Benefits, Win-win Cooperation" this
year, was held by the Publicity Department of the CPC Hainan
Provincial Committee, China Daily
and the China Institute for Reform and Development.
View original content to download
multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/rcep-to-bring-more-vitality-and-certainty-302149582.html
SOURCE CHINA DAILY