The fourth regional comprehensive economic partnership (RCEP) leaders' meeting was held by video yesterday. Under the leadership of the leaders of the RCEP countries, 15 countries signed the agreement. This marks the official launch of the free trade zone with the largest population, the most diverse membership structure and the most potential for development in the world.
"The completion of RCEP free trade zone means that about one third of the global economy will form an integrated market. RCEP covers the major countries in East Asia and will inject strong impetus into regional and global economic growth. " The head of the International Department of the Ministry of Commerce said yesterday.
Tariff barriers are significantly reduced, and it is more convenient for consumers to shop and travel
Currently, RCEP is jointly signed by ten ASEAN countries and 15 countries including China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. In 2019, the total population of the 15 member countries will reach 2.27 billion, GDP will reach 26 trillion US dollars, and the total export volume will reach 5.2 trillion US dollars, accounting for about 30% of the global total.
In the RCEP agreement, the tariff concessions among the members are mainly the promise to reduce the tariff to zero immediately and within ten years. According to the Ministry of Commerce, the number of final zero tariff products in the agreement will exceed 90%, and the overall opening level of service trade and investment is relatively high.
It is worth mentioning that China and Japan have reached a bilateral tariff reduction arrangement for the first time, which has achieved a historic breakthrough. This is the first time that China has signed a free trade agreement with the world's top ten economies.
"From the perspective of consumers, a lot of high-quality consumer goods from other countries will enter the Chinese market with lower tariffs and more convenient procedures, including through e-commerce platforms, so that business personnel will flow more freely and travel abroad will be more convenient." Chen Liang, an associate researcher at the Institute of world economics, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said in an interview with Shanghai Securities News.
Good textile and clothing, port shipping and other industries
"The signing of RCEP has a greater impact on China's high-end industries. There were no free trade agreements between Japan, South Korea and China and Japan before the signing of RCEP. The signing of this Agreement may help the cooperation of relevant countries in semiconductor and other fields, but there are still some factors such as technical regulation." Bai Ming, deputy director of the International Market Research Institute of the Institute of international trade and economic cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce, told Shanghai Securities News.
RCEP signing will also bring benefits to many other domestic industries, such as port, shipping, tourism, textile manufacturing, etc. Haitong Securities textile and clothing industry analysts said that after RCEP reached, textile manufacturing enterprises will reduce the cost of cotton and improve their profitability.
Wang Shouwen, Vice Minister of Commerce and deputy representative of international trade negotiations, once gave an example: "take the clothing industry as an example. China imports wool from Australia and New Zealand. Because of the signing of the free trade agreement, China may import wool duty-free in the future. After import, the cloth will be woven in China. The cloth may be exported to Vietnam, and Vietnam will export it to Korea after it is made into clothing China, Japan, China and other countries may be duty-free, which will promote the development of the local textile and clothing industry. "
According to the data, China's textile and clothing trade volume is close to 300 billion US dollars in 2019, of which the export amount to 10 RCEP member countries accounts for more than 25%. The elimination of tariff barriers will help to enhance China's textile and clothing export competitiveness and improve export capacity.
