2022 RCEP off to a good start

On January 1, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) came into effect. The latest statistics from China Customs show that in the first quarter of this year, China's total import and export value to the other 14 RCEP member countries increased by 6.9% year-on-year, accounting for 30.4% of China's total foreign trade value in the same period. In the first quarter, China's import and export growth with South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand and other countries exceeded double digits year-on-year.

"Asian Economic Prospects and Integration Process 2022 Annual Report" pointed out that the official entry into force of RCEP marks the start of the world's most populous and largest economic and trade free trade zone. Even in the face of the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the pace of Asia-Pacific economic integration has not stopped. Whether it is economic recovery or institutional building, the Asia-Pacific region has provided new impetus to the world.

"The first year of RCEP has shown a good momentum of development." Xu Xiujun, a researcher at the Institute of World Economics and Politics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, pointed out in an interview with this reporter that the Asian region includes developed countries such as Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, as well as China and India. China presents a unique pattern with strong complementarity and diversity. RCEP is a higher standard and higher-level integration of economic and trade resources for economies in the Asia-Pacific region, making economies at different positions in the industrial chain more closely linked. Under such circumstances, the driving and leading role of East Asia in the global economy has been further strengthened.

"RCEP is the first regional trade agreement that includes the three major economies of China, Japan and South Korea. It establishes free trade relations between China, Japan, Japan and South Korea for the first time, marking a milestone step in the regional economic integration of East Asia." China Modern International Relations In an interview with this reporter, Chen Fengying, a researcher of the research institute, pointed out that the most worthy of attention of RCEP is the rule of origin accumulation, that is, when determining the origin of goods, if products from other parties to the agreement are used, it is allowed to transfer the other parts of the free trade agreement. Products processed by a Party using non-originating materials accumulate to the final product. If the final product produced by the enterprise reaches more than 40% of the regional value of all the countries in which the agreement is in force, it can obtain the RCEP origin qualification. This rule allows the value components from any member of RCEP to be taken into account, greatly improving the utilization rate of preferential tax rates in the agreement, and consolidating the foundation of the supply chain and industrial chain in the Asia-Pacific region.