The 15 member countries will take full effect, and the world's largest free trade area will enter a new stage of full implementation. Recently, the Tianjin Free Trade Zone Innovation and Development Bureau has successively launched a series of introductions to the 15 member states of RCEP, so that everyone can learn about the situation of each member state, know ourselves and the enemy, seize opportunities and enjoy dividends early.
my country is the largest trading partner of the Philippines, the largest source of imports and the third largest export market.
1. The basic situation of the Philippines
The Philippines is a founding member of ASEAN and the second most populous country in ASEAN after Indonesia. The Philippines is the thirteenth most populous country in the world, with a total population of about 109 million.
First, the tourism industry is rich in resources. The Philippines is a country of thousands of islands, with a suitable climate, beautiful natural scenery and ethnic culture, and excellent conditions for tourism.
Second, sufficient labor resources. The Philippines has a large workforce and is in the golden age of demographic dividend. There are sufficient talents who are proficient in English, familiar with international knowledge and service standards, and have good business ability and professional ethics.
Third, there is great potential for agricultural development. The Philippines has rich land resources, a good ecological environment, and climatic conditions suitable for the growth of crops, and has unique advantages in agricultural development.
Fourth, the mining industry has broad prospects. The Philippines is rich in mineral resources, and copper, nickel, gold, silver, iron and aluminum minerals all have good development prospects.
2. Fruitful cooperation between China and the Philippines
In recent years, China-Philippines economic and trade cooperation has continued to expand. Despite the adverse impact of the new crown epidemic, China-Philippines trade and investment cooperation has achieved growth against the trend.
First, China has been the largest trading partner of the Philippines for many years in a row. The export of Philippine agricultural products to China has increased rapidly. At present, the Philippines has become China's largest import source of bananas and pineapples. Coconuts, avocados, and frozen fruits have also entered the Chinese market one after another. Philippine companies are also actively using the platform of the China International import Expo to expand the Chinese market.
Second, the investment cooperation between the two sides is booming. Chinese enterprises have achieved remarkable results in investment and cooperation in the Philippines, showing strong vitality in the fields of service outsourcing, logistics, agriculture, steel, and communications. Major projects have also been successfully implemented, helping the local post-epidemic recovery and the development of people's livelihood, and driving the economic growth of the southern Philippines.
3. China-Philippines cooperation welcomes new opportunities
First, the prospect of China-Philippines trade cooperation is broad. Under the RCEP framework, the Philippines has committed to more than 90% of its zero-tariff goods on average, and its commitment to China has reached the highest level of 91.3%, which is higher than the level of openness to other non-ASEAN members. Among them, 80.5% of the products that immediately implement zero tariffs on China are the highest level of immediate opening to China among all RCEP members.
Second, there is huge potential in the field of cross-border e-commerce. The Philippines has a large population, and China is also the second largest consumer market in the world. The future cooperation between the two countries in the field of cross-border e-commerce is broad. China and the Philippines signed a memorandum of understanding on e-commerce cooperation. The two sides will establish an e-commerce cooperation mechanism, carry out policy communication, share innovation experience, and promote trade in high-quality products through e-commerce.
Third, industrial cooperation brings new opportunities, and RCEP will provide new opportunities for more comprehensive industrial cooperation between China and the Philippines. The two sides also have great potential for cooperation in the fields of infrastructure and other contracted projects. The effective implementation of RCEP will provide new development opportunities for China-Philippines cooperation in agriculture, manufacturing, energy and other related industries. In addition, the service industry in the Philippines is relatively developed. In many fields such as logistics, finance, tourism, education, telecommunications, service outsourcing, and digital services, there is also a lot of room for the Philippines and China to further deepen cooperation.