International Observation: RCEP Came Into Full Force For 15 Signatories

On June 2, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) officially entered into force for the Philippines, marking the full entry into force of RCEP for the 15 signatories. In response to the questions of the media and the public, the head of the International Department of the Ministry of Commerce answered the reporter's questions.

Q: What is the significance of RCEP to the full entry into force of the 15 signatories?

A: On November 15, 2020, the 10 ASEAN countries and Australia, China, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand jointly signed RCEP, and promoted the agreement to enter into force on January 1, 2022. On June 2, 2023, RCEP officially came into force for the Philippines, and the agreement has now come into full force for the 15 signatories. The total population, GDP and trade volume of goods in the RCEP region all account for about 30% of the world's total. The full entry into force of the agreement for the 15 parties marks the new stage of full implementation of the free trade zone with the largest population, the largest economic and trade scale and the greatest development potential in the world.

The full effectiveness of RCEP fully reflects that the 15 parties support an open, free, fair, inclusive and rule-based multilateral trading system with practical actions, and are committed to continuously promoting a comprehensive, mutually beneficial and high-level economic partnership. The commitment of the 15 parties to the opening of goods, services and investment markets, and the superposition of high-level rules in various fields, will greatly promote the free flow of production factors in the region, such as raw materials, products, technology, talents, capital, information and data, promote the gradual formation of a more prosperous regional integration market, and promote greater scope, higher level and deeper opening and cooperation among member countries.

The comprehensive entry into force of RCEP will provide strong support for China to promote high-level opening-up. The full effectiveness of RCEP has created more favorable conditions for China to expand trade in goods with its members, and will also drive the corresponding opening of service trade and investment, and promote trade facilitation and the improvement of business environment. Continuing to promote high-quality implementation of RCEP will be conducive to further promoting the integrated development of regional industrial chain supply chain, expanding new space for international economic and trade cooperation among local governments, industries and enterprises, and promoting a higher level of institutional openness at a higher starting point.

Q: Since its entry into force on January 1, 2022, what positive results has RCEP achieved in promoting regional trade and investment development?

A: With the joint efforts of all parties, the RCEP has achieved initial results since its implementation. Trade in goods between members has become closer, and intraregional trade has become a key force to stabilize and stimulate the growth of foreign trade among members. At the same time, benefiting from the positive signals released by the effective implementation of RCEP, the region has continued to become a hot spot of global investment. Most members' utilization of foreign capital has shown a positive upward trend, and the region as a whole has attracted strong growth in green space investment.

The implementation of RCEP has played an important role in stabilizing China's foreign trade and foreign capital. In terms of trade, in 2022, the total import and export volume between China and other RCEP members will be 12.95 trillion yuan, up 7.5% year on year, accounting for 30.8% of China's total import and export volume. From January to April 2023, the total import and export volume of China and other RCEP members will be 4.12 trillion yuan, up 7.3% year on year, accounting for 30.9% of China's total foreign trade import and export volume. From the perspective of attracting foreign investment, in 2022, China will actually use the investment of other members of RCEP of 23.53 billion US dollars, up 23.1% year on year. From January to April 2023, the actual investment of other members of RCEP in China will be nearly 8.9 billion dollars, with a year-on-year growth of more than 13.7%.

RCEP has brought tangible dividends and benefits to Chinese enterprises. RCEP superimposes the bilateral free trade agreements that have entered into force between China and other RCEP members, creating good conditions for enterprises to better enjoy benefits and helping enterprises reduce trade costs. In 2022, Chinese enterprises will enjoy preferential export value of 235.3 billion yuan under RCEP, and can enjoy tariff concessions of 1.58 billion yuan from importing countries; The value of preferential imports was 65.3 billion yuan, and the tax concessions were 1.55 billion yuan. In the first quarter of 2023, Chinese enterprises will enjoy preferential export value of 62.29 billion yuan under RCEP, and can enjoy tariff concessions of 930 million yuan from importing countries; The value of preferential imports was 18.25 billion yuan, and the tax concessions were 480 million yuan.

Q: What are the innovative measures and achievements of each place in the process of actively docking with RCEP?

A: Since the effective implementation of RCEP, all localities have actively strengthened policy docking, optimized the business environment, strengthened economic and trade cooperation with RCEP members, practically improved their support and service level for enterprises, helped enterprises grasp the opportunities of the agreement, and formed many fruitful practical measures and innovative practical achievements.

First, actively match the opportunities of the agreement and introduce practical measures according to local conditions. All localities actively implement the Guiding Opinions on the High Quality Implementation of RCEP. Many localities have introduced work plans or action plans for the implementation of RCEP in combination with local development realities. Some localities have also incorporated the opportunities of RCEP into the local "14th Five Year Plan" and the 2035 Vision Outline, launched practical measures, systematically promoted high-quality implementation, and promoted deeper integration into regional markets.

Second, focus on improving trade facilitation and unblocking regional economic and trade exchanges. Many places have implemented RCEP trade facilitation measures with high standards, and promoted the implementation of express transportation and 6-hour customs clearance for perishable goods; Actively build an online RCEP intelligent application public service platform, vigorously promote the whole process digital service of certificate of origin, and help enterprises enjoy benefits efficiently. Relevant regions develop and increase foreign trade liners, air routes, railway freight trains and stations oriented to RCEP members, constantly improve the comprehensive service level of logistics and supply chain, and enhance the efficiency and traffic capacity of port customs clearance.

Third, we should take advantage of the agreement and opening-up policy to promote the implementation of trade and investment achievements. All regions and enterprises strive to make use of the cumulative rules of origin of RCEP, preferential policies for service trade and investment market opening, actively optimize the regional trade and investment layout, and promote the in-depth integration and development of the industrial chain supply chain. Some places have made great efforts to develop intermediate production and trade for RCEP members in combination with local resource endowments and industrial characteristics, and achieved positive results. Some places superimpose open platforms such as free trade pilot zones with RCEP policies, increase targeted investment attraction for key industries, and promote the implementation of a number of major projects.

Fourth, take the opportunity of implementing RCEP to create a first-class business environment. Local governments strictly implement the domestic laws, regulations and rules corresponding to the mandatory obligations of RCEP, and relevant local governments also focus on implementing the incentive obligations of RCEP, constantly improving local governance capabilities, attracting industries, funds, talents and other clusters, and driving the remarkable optimization of local trade and investment environment. Some places actively use platforms such as local characteristic fairs and economic and trade forums to strengthen industrial cooperation with RCEP members, promote featured and advantageous products, and carry out docking of trade and investment projects.

Fifth, strengthen publicity and training, and enhance the awareness of enterprises to use agreements. Various regions have strengthened the special training and policy propaganda of RCEP through various ways, carried out precise training for different industries, and interpreted preferential policies throughout various enterprises. Some places also sorted out and announced the list of advantageous import and export products under RCEP, carried out tariff concession comparison and trade big data analysis of RCEP members, and introduced and analyzed key export destinations of local advantageous products to enterprises to help enterprises better explore the regional market of RCEP.

Q: How can the Ministry of Commerce guide and support local governments, industries and enterprises to make good use of the Football Association to determine policy dividends in the next step?

A: Taking the opportunity of the full entry into force of RCEP for all signatory countries, we will continue to do a good job in implementing RCEP with high quality, guide local governments, industries and enterprises to deeply connect with RCEP opportunities, fully enjoy the dividend of the agreement policy, and further play the positive role of the agreement in promoting industrial chain supply chain cooperation and promoting high-quality development.

First, continue to guide local governments, industries and enterprises to implement and make good use of the agreement. Guide local governments to implement the Guiding Opinions on High Quality Implementation of RCEP, grasp the gradual opening process of RCEP, and gradually give full play to the economic effects of the agreement. Further strengthen the special training of RCEP. On the basis of 13 training sessions held in the previous two years, focus on petrochemical, electromechanical, light textile, automobile and other specific industries to carry out in-depth special training of RCEP on chain stabilization and fixation. Local governments and industries are encouraged to carry out more refined and targeted training to help enterprises fully understand and make good use of the dividend of the agreement policy.

The second is to constantly improve the level of public services and promote the replication and promotion of the implementation experience of the agreement. On the basis of optimizing the functions of the service network of China Free Trade Zone in the early stage, continue to provide enterprises with RCEP policy consultation and question answering services. Encourage and support local service enterprises in various forms according to local conditions, and provide a package of solutions related to the implementation of free trade agreements. Regularly track and evaluate the problems in the implementation of the agreement, sort out and summarize the good experiences and practices of various regions in docking with RCEP, optimizing the business environment, promoting trade and investment cooperation, etc., form a classic case of using RCEP that can be copied, promoted, and implemented, and constantly improve the utilization rate and utilization level of the agreement.

The third is to promote the high-level implementation of the RCEP mechanism by member states and further promote the construction and cooperation of the RCEP mechanism. Together with all members, we will continue to promote the implementation of RCEP tariff concession commitments, service trade and investment opening commitments, and the full implementation of trade and investment liberalization and facilitation rules and obligations. Promote the regular convening of RCEP ministerial meetings, joint committees and other institutional meetings, supervise and promote the high-quality implementation of the agreement, support the establishment of the RCEP secretariat, and strengthen the economic and technical cooperation of RCEP. Actively promote the coordination and docking of product and service standard regulations among members, pragmatically promote mutual recognition and cooperation of regional conformity assessment, create better conditions for the high-quality implementation of RCEP, drive local and enterprises to integrate more fully into the large market of RCEP, and achieve mutual benefit and common development at a higher level.