The world's largest free trade zone is about to emerge

After seven years of "long run", RCEP negotiation finally made a major breakthrough! A free trade zone covering more than 3 billion people and accounting for one third of the world's GDP may be born in the near future.

Premier Li Keqiang pointed out at the 22nd ASEAN China Japan South Korea (10 + 3) leaders' meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, on the morning of November 4 local time that the 15 member countries of the regional comprehensive economic partnership agreement (RCEP) have concluded all text negotiations and virtually all market access negotiations. In an interview with the daily economic news reporter, Huo Jianguo, former president of the Research Institute of international trade and economic cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce and senior researcher of CCG (Globalization think tank), said that under the background of increasing downward pressure on the global economy and the rise of trade protectionism, the RCEP negotiation has made a significant breakthrough and delivered an exciting news, opening up a broader cooperation space for enterprises, The liquidity of goods trade among members of the free trade zone will be stronger, and the market access of service trade may be further reduced.

Baiming, deputy director of the International Market Research Institute of the Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce, told reporters that the success of RCEP negotiations means that countries and regions with nearly half of the world's population are expected to achieve low tariffs or even zero tariffs, which has opened up new space for the high-quality development of China's foreign trade. It is expected to reduce tariffs in a larger scale. RCEP is initiated by ten ASEAN countries, and China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India are invited to participate in it. It aims to establish a free trade agreement of 16 countries with a unified market by reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers. However, RCEP negotiation is not smooth sailing. RCEP negotiation started in 2012 has overcome many difficulties in the "seven-year long run" process. The gap in the level of economic development among member countries is large, and there is a big difference between the understanding and familiarity of free trade norms and the ability to execute, resulting in different demands and considerations in various fields of negotiations.

Li Keqiang pointed out that through joint efforts, the 15 member countries of the regional comprehensive economic partnership agreement (RCEP) have concluded all text negotiations and virtually all market access negotiations. This is a major breakthrough in the construction of the East Asian Free Trade Area, the largest population in the world, the most diverse member structure and the greatest potential for development. It will surely push forward the process of regional economic integration, safeguard free trade and boost market confidence. According to Huo Jianguo, the scope of RCEP negotiation is further expanded to "10 + 5" based on the previous "10 + 3" cooperation. Previously, China has established a free trade area with ten ASEAN countries, and China ASEAN Free Trade Area zero tariff has covered more than 90% of the tax items. "RCEP negotiation will undoubtedly take a greater step in reducing tariff barriers. In the future, 95% or more tax products will not be excluded from the scope of zero tariff. Market space will be bigger.

The expansion of Member States from 13 to 15 is a major policy advantage for foreign trade enterprises. Huo Jianguo said. At the same time, the reporter noted that in recent years, the level of trade activity between China and ASEAN countries has gradually increased, and China has become the largest trade partner of ASEAN for 10 consecutive years. According to the statistics of the Ministry of Commerce, by the end of 2018, the total two-way investment between China and ASEAN had reached 205.71 billion US dollars, and the two-way investment stock had increased 22 times in 15 years. ASEAN has become a key area for Chinese enterprises to invest abroad, playing a positive role in promoting economic growth and employment of countries in the region. Huang Xilian, China's ambassador to ASEAN, once said that in 2018, the trade volume between China and ASEAN reached a new record, reaching US $587.8 billion, an increase of 14.1% over the previous year; in the first half of this year, ASEAN surpassed the United States to become China's second largest trading partner, with the bilateral trade volume reaching US $291.85 billion, which is expected to reach US $600 billion for the whole year.

On November 4, Le Yucheng, Vice Foreign Minister, briefed Chinese and foreign media after a series of East Asian Cooperation leaders' meetings in Bangkok. Le Yucheng said that the most prominent high-frequency words in this series of East Asian Cooperation leaders' meetings are appreciation and upgrading. All parties agreed that the connotation, value and level of East Asia cooperation are constantly enriched. The most important thing is that just yesterday, the 15 member countries of the regional comprehensive economic partnership (RCEP) concluded all text negotiations and virtually all market access negotiations, and signed the agreement next year. This is a major breakthrough in regional economic integration. A world free trade zone with the largest population, the most members and the greatest potential for development is ready to come out. East Asian countries are moving towards the goal of building the East Asian community. Le Yucheng said. At a press conference on November 4, Geng Shuang, spokesman of the Ministry of foreign affairs, also pointed out that on the whole, it is encouraging that all parties have promised in principle that they will sign the agreement next year. In the context of the current rise of unilateralism and protectionism, the above decisions have issued positive signals for East Asian countries to support multilateralism and support free trade. We should encourage the parties concerned to continue to participate in the negotiations in a constructive way, and strive to achieve substantive results as soon as possible.

According to the global times, in the early hours of November 5, according to various media reports in India and confirmed by the spokesperson of India's foreign ministry, Indian Prime Minister modi has announced that the current negotiation content of the agreement is not conducive to India's national interests, so India will not join the agreement. Baiming also said that India's openness is relatively low and the overall tariff level is on the high side. India believes that its domestic industry is relatively fragile. steel