The RCEP negotiation was initiated by 10 ASEAN countries in 2012, and six countries including Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand were invited to participate. The goal is to further improve the "10 + 1" free trade agreements signed with these countries and reach a new large-scale free trade agreement. The negotiations began in 2013. In November 2019, the third RCEP leaders' meeting was held in Bangkok, Thailand, and a joint statement was issued to announce that 15 countries had concluded all text negotiations and substantially all market access negotiations.
According to the data in 2018, the population, GDP, export volume and foreign investment attraction of 15 RCEP member countries account for about 30% of the global total, which is the free trade zone with the largest population, the most diversified member structure and the most potential for development in the world. Therefore, the signing of RCEP agreement is considered to be of great historical significance and influence and has attracted much attention.
RCEP protocol contains a wide range of contents. According to the people's daily client, the agreement follows the development trend of Global trade and includes many new forms of trade, among which e-commerce is one. In addition to e-commerce, the agreement also includes intellectual property rights, competition policy, government procurement, and small and medium-sized enterprises, which is beyond the scope stipulated by the WTO.
