Countdown to RCEP signing, China will join the world's largest FREE Trade Zone!

At the invitation of asean's rotating presidency Vietnamese prime minister nguyen xuan phuc, on November 12 solstice 15, premier li keqiang will attend in video form at the 23rd of the china-asean (10 + 1) leaders' meeting, the 23rd asean and China, Japan and South Korea (10 + 3) leaders' meeting, the 15th session of the east Asia summit (EAS), the fourth sub-regions comprehensive economic partnership agreements (RCEP) leaders' meeting and the association of south-east Asian nations (asean) business and investment summit (ABIS).

Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Guk Yong announced at a press conference on The upcoming leaders' meetings on East Asia Cooperation on September 9 that the RCEP negotiations have been completed and all countries are now pushing forward their own ratification procedures. He added that 15 countries are expected to sign the agreement at the fourth RCEP leaders' meeting on The 15th.

Usana Berananda, director general of the Asean Department at the Thai Foreign Ministry, said that if the document is ready, it will be the first agreement ever signed online by ASEAN, and Thailand will participate in the signing of the agreement on The 15th. Indonesian Trade Minister Agus Supamantto also said on Monday that the RCEP is expected to be signed on The 15th, saying that the "strategic" agreement will boost the country's exports to other signatories.

The RCEP was launched by the 10 ASEAN countries in 2012 and invited six dialogue partners -- China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India -- to participate in a free trade agreement aimed at establishing a single market by reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers. India pulled out of the talks in November because of disagreements over tariffs, trade deficits with other countries and non-tariff barriers, but the remaining 15 countries have said they will try to sign the agreement by 2020.

Japan has high hopes for a deal

China looks forward to signing the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) as scheduled during the meetings, which will fully demonstrate the positive will of regional countries to support multilateralism and free trade and further deepen economic and trade ties, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Luo Zhaohui said at a press briefing on Friday.

If the RCEP negotiations are successful, they will be the most important outcome of east Asian economic integration in the past 20 years. If India does eventually join, the deal will cover about 3.5 billion people with a combined GDP of $23 trillion, a third of the global total, and include the world's largest free trade area. It is understood that the remaining 15 countries will make special arrangements in the agreement so that India can smoothly return to the agreement.

Li Chenggang, Assistant Minister of Commerce of China, pointed out at the same briefing that under the leadership of ASEAN, RCEP parties are actively advancing negotiations in various fields. So far, negotiations in all areas have been fully completed and the legal review of all texts has been completed. All parties are actively negotiating for an agreement to be signed during this leaders' meeting, which will play a positive role in promoting global free trade and the development of the multilateral trading system.

Since the beginning of this year, economic and trade cooperation between China and ASEAN has bucked the trend. Statistics show that from January to September this year, Trade between China and ASEAN kept growing, reaching 481.81 billion US dollars, up 5% year-on-year, making ASEAN China's largest trading partner historically. In the first nine months, China's top three trading partners were ASEAN, the European Union and the United States, and the trade volume between China and ASEAN was 20.59 billion US dollars more than that between China and the European Union, China's second largest trading partner.

Not only asean has high hopes for the signing of this agreement, but Also Japan has shown a very positive attitude. If it does, it will be Japan's first trade agreement with China and South Korea, which last year were Japan's top and third largest importers and exporters respectively. Under the draft agreement, Japan will maintain tariffs on five sensitive agricultural products - rice, wheat, beef and pork, dairy products and sugar - to protect domestic farmers from cheap imports, sources said.

, of the China institute of contemporary international relations director of the center for the study of globalization, Japanese researchers jun-hong liu pointed out that Japan for RCEP have to consider: in addition to agreement to strengthen economic cooperation with the asia-pacific region, you can go for agreements with China, a certain pressure to the United States, let the new U.S. government attaches great importance to the economic and trade cooperation with Japan.

"There are two things Japan wants from the US right now: first, it wants to postpone the second round of trade talks with The US and get the US to cede its interests to Japan in the talks; "The other is that we want the United States to return to the TPP." "In the past, Japan always used the RCEP as a bargaining chip when negotiating the TPP with the United States, because the RCEP is a huge trade agreement without the United States," Liu said. "If the United States does not participate in the regional trade arrangement, it may lose its voice in the future rule-making."

Will boost regional GDP growth

For the entire Asia-Pacific region, the RCEP represents a huge business opportunity. Zhang Jianping, director of the Research Center for Regional Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce, pointed out that RCEP will cover the world's two largest markets with the greatest growth potential, China's market with 1.4 billion people and asean's market with more than 600 million people. At the same time, these 15 economies, as important engines of economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region, are also important sources of global growth.

Zhang Jianping pointed out that once the agreement is implemented, the demand for mutual trade within the region will grow rapidly due to the relatively large removal of tariff and non-tariff barriers and investment barriers, which is the trade creation effect. At the same time, trade with non-regional partners will be partly transferred to intra-regional trade, which is the transfer effect of trade. On the investment side, the agreement will also bring about additional investment creation. Therefore, the RCEP will boost the GDP growth of the whole region, create more jobs and significantly improve the well-being of all countries.

"Every financial crisis or economic crisis gives a powerful boost to regional economic integration because all economic partners need to stay together to cope with external pressures. At present, the world is facing the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic and still not out of the global economic recession. In this context, strengthening intra-regional cooperation is an objective need." "We need to further tap the potential within the large markets covered by RCEP, especially as this is the region with the fastest growth in global demand and the strongest development momentum," Zhang said.

Luo noted that the leaders' meetings on East Asia cooperation have special background, timing and significance. The global epidemic is spreading at an accelerating pace, the world economy is in dire straits, and unilateralism and bullying are rife. As an important member of Regional cooperation in East Asia, China has taken the lead in both fighting the epidemic and recovering economic growth. Against this background, the conference should send out the following important signals:

First, we need to boost confidence and strengthen unity. Confidence is more important than gold. Only solidarity and cooperation can prevent and control the epidemic.

Second, deepen cooperation against coVID-19. While mountains and rivers separate us, we enjoy the same moonlight under the same sky. Since the outbreak of the epidemic, China and other countries in the region have worked together and supported each other. All parties should further deepen cooperation in public health.

Third, we will focus on economic development. Economic globalization, trade liberalization and regional cooperation are crucial to jointly combat the epidemic, promote economic recovery and stabilize the supply chain and industrial chain. China is ready to work with countries in the region to build networks of "fast track" and "green track" for personnel and goods exchanges to help restart work and production and lead economic recovery.

Fourth, we need to keep to the direction of regional cooperation and properly handle differences. All parties should firmly support multilateralism, uphold ASEAN centrality, adhere to consensus building, accommodate each other's comfort level, refrain from introducing bilateral differences into multilateralism and other important principles, and work together to safeguard peace and stability in the South China Sea.