RCEP will boost regional trade, hasten global economy recovery

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the largest free trade agreement in the world which came into force on Saturday, will play an important role in boosting trade, augmenting the regional economy and hastening the global economic recovery amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the headwinds of protectionism, and continue to bring prosperity to the global economy in the post-pandemic period.

Thanks to the RCEP, more than 90 percent of the trade in goods among the member states will eventually become tariff-free, further improving the connectivity of industrial and supply chains and promoting the development of free trade in the region. This is conducive to maintaining an open and inclusive multilateral trading system and supporting global economic recovery.

In recent years, unilateralism and protectionism have been hindering global free trade and thus the global economic recovery. The RCEP will effectively offset the impact of protectionism and unilateralism on global trade by allowing the member states to conduct free trade and enhance multilateral cooperation. The RCEP members have shown to the world that win-win cooperation is the common pursuit of humankind. In the face of the decoupling efforts and beggar-thy-neighbor policies of some Western economies, the speedy ratification of the RCEP reflects the member states' commitment to promoting a fair and open multilateral trading system for the benefit of the region and the world.

For a long time, economic globalization led by Western powers has been plagued by development gaps, North-South divide and a biased global governance system. The RCEP, with its remarkable openness and inclusiveness, will bring new vitality and set a new benchmark for globalization.

The RCEP members include both developed and developing countries and the agreement covers a wide range of areas including tariff reduction, trade facilitation and opening up of services and investment. As such, the RCEP will accelerate the upgrading of globalization and build an open world economy.

The RCEP was signed in November 2020, and China ratified it in March 2021 becoming the first country to do so. In November 2021, it announced that it has made preparations for tariff concessions, implementation of rules of origin and binding obligations under the RCEP agreement.

There is every reason to believe that the RCEP will boost regional economic integration and help the world economy navigate the rocky road and reach newer heights of inclusiveness, openness and win-win outcomes for all.

BEIJING YOUTH DAILY