On January 1, the "Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement" (RCEP) officially came into effect, and six ASEAN members including Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam and four non-ASEAN members including China, Japan, New Zealand, and Australia officially began to implement the agreement.
After 8 years of negotiations, RCEP was signed on November 15, 2020, and through the joint efforts of all parties, it will reach the threshold for entry into force on November 2, 2021. The effective implementation of RCEP marks the official landing of the free trade area with the largest population, the largest economic and trade scale and the greatest development potential in the world. It fully reflects the confidence and determination of all parties to jointly safeguard multilateralism and free trade and promote regional economic integration. It will make important contributions to regional and global trade and investment growth, economic recovery and prosperity.
China will fully and fully fulfill its RCEP obligations, implement the agreement with high quality, expand foreign trade and two-way investment, continuously stabilize and strengthen the industrial and supply chains, and continue to improve the business environment. Guide localities, industries, and enterprises to make good use of the agreement's market opening commitments and rules, and better grasp the market opening opportunities brought about by RCEP. The Ministry of Commerce will work with relevant departments to continue to do a good job in RCEP training, support the construction of the free trade zone public service platform, strengthen the function of the China Free Trade Zone service network, and provide guidance and services for the high-level implementation of the agreement by various localities, industries and enterprises.
China will work with RCEP members to actively participate in and support the construction of the RCEP mechanism, contribute to RCEP economic and technological cooperation, jointly promote the improvement of the overall implementation level of the agreement, continue to improve the liberalization and facilitation of regional trade and investment, and build RCEP into the main platform for East Asian economic and trade cooperation.
