RCEP from the perspective of digital trade ecology

With the tide of digital economy sweeping the world, the integration of digital technology and international trade is deepening, and digital trade has become a new force in the development of international trade. Looking at the world, where is the most dynamic area for the development of digital trade? It must be RCEP area. Research shows that RCEP's digital trade ecology has initially taken shape, and it is also timely for all parties to strive to improve the National Digital Trade ecology in RCEP.
From the perspective of RCEP terms, it attaches great importance to e-commerce. RCEP e-commerce chapter is the first comprehensive and high-level multilateral e-commerce rule achievement reached in the Asia Pacific region. This not only inherited some traditional e-commerce rules, but also reached important consensus on cross-border information transmission, data localization and other topics for the first time, providing institutional guarantees for Member States to strengthen cooperation in the field of e-commerce, helping to create a good environment for e-commerce development, enhancing policy mutual trust, regulatory mutual recognition and enterprise exchanges in the field of e-commerce among Member States, and greatly promoting the development of e-commerce in the region.
From the situation after its implementation, RCEP digital trade has great potential, which is determined by the following six driving forces.
First, it is driven by the huge market. RCEP is the largest free trade area in the world. It covers 29.7% of the world's population, 28.9% of GDP, and China and ASEAN, the two largest markets with the greatest growth potential in the world. According to the China Digital Economy Development Report (2022) released by the China Academy of information and communication technology, from 2016 to 2021, the scale of China's digital economy increased from 22.6 trillion yuan to 45.5 trillion yuan, an increase of 1.01 times, and the total volume steadily ranked second in the world, accounting for 39.8% of GDP.
Second, it is driven by trade in goods. After RCEP came into effect, the intra regional trade volume continued to rise. Among them, China's trade in goods has withstood the impact of the epidemic and achieved sustained growth. In the first half of 2022, the total import and export volume of China and RCEP member countries reached 6042.31 billion yuan, including 3028.28 billion yuan of imports and 3014.03 billion yuan of exports, up 17.8% and 5.6% respectively over the same period last year. Let's take another look at Cambodia. In the first quarter, the total value of goods exported to RCEP member countries increased by 11%, and the total value of exports to other 14 RCEP member countries reached 1.956 billion US dollars.
Third, it is driven by policies and systems. China has attached great importance to the development of digital economy in recent years. The Party Central Committee and the State Council have made systematic arrangements for the development of the digital economy, the top-level strategic planning system of the digital economy has gradually become complete, and the industry and local governments have formed a systematic joint force to implement the relevant strategic arrangements. China's digital economy development has strong policy and institutional advantages. In particular, on July 25, 2022, the State Council sent a letter agreeing that the national development and Reform Commission should take the lead in establishing an inter ministerial joint conference system for digital economy development, which marks that the top-level design of the digital economy has been improved. In the future, China will promote the implementation of the digital economy strategy more systematically and comprehensively from top to bottom. Other RCEP member countries have also introduced plans and policies to promote the development of the digital economy.
Fourth, it is driven by technological development. In recent years, the rapid promotion and application of new generation information technologies such as big data, blockchain, Internet of things and artificial intelligence have laid a solid industrial foundation for the development of digital trade. The digital trade platform improves the efficiency of logistics management with the help of intelligent warehousing and distribution under the Internet of things technology; Reduce the financing credit threshold through the application of blockchain technology in the financial field; The advantage of big data accumulation is used to predict the market. The application of the new generation of information technology will continue to promote the rapid development of digital trade, and help the efficient coordination and circulation of business flow, information flow, logistics and capital flow of digital trade.
Fifth, infrastructure driven. In terms of traditional infrastructure, since China put forward the "the Belt and Road" initiative, infrastructure connectivity between China and RCEP member countries has been further deepened. For example, up to now, the total number of rail sea combined transport trains in the new land sea channel in the West has reached 20000. From January to July this year, the channel shipped 92000 TEUs of foreign trade goods, an increase of 52% over the same period in 2021; The freight train of China Laos railway takes only 30 hours at the fastest, and the transportation cost is reduced by 40% to 50%. It can be expected that with the entry into force of RCEP, a new round of infrastructure construction will also come. In terms of digital infrastructure, China can be said to lead the RCEP region. Data from the Ministry of industry and information technology show that China has built the world's largest optical broadband network, with the capacity to cover 320 million households, and more than 1.6 million 5g base stations. Other RCEP member countries are also increasing their investment in the construction of digital infrastructure member countries.
Sixth, it is driven by capital investment. According to iResearch's 2021 white paper on global digital trade, the role of the industrial Internet in economic transformation has been increasing in the past five years, and capital has continued to flow into industries that integrate the industrial Internet with traditional industries, providing strong financial support for the rapid development of digital industry platforms. In 2016, the financing amount of e-commerce 2B accounted for 36%, and that of 2C accounted for 64%. In 2021, the financing volume of e-commerce 2B accounted for 51%, an increase of 15% over 2016; The financing volume of 2C field decreased by 15% compared with 2016, accounting for 49%, and the difference between the two fields is not big.
Just as the potential of the digital economy lies in its integration with the real economy, digital trade is not only the flow of data services and content, but also the digital content of traditional trade, which runs through product design, manufacturing, trading, transportation, promotion, sales and other links. To improve RCEP's Digital Trade Development Ecology in the future, on the one hand, we need to benchmark high-standard free trade agreements such as cptpp and depa, and on the other hand, we need to propose digital trade solutions for developing countries in RCEP, including product design, manufacturing, trading, transportation, promotion, sales, data circulation, etc., and examine all the provisions of RCEP from the perspective of digital trade ecological development.
From the above six driving forces, RCEP needs to further optimize the business environment in customs clearance facilitation, investment liberalization, digital infrastructure, general infrastructure, cross-border logistics system, cross-border data flow, intellectual property protection and other aspects in the future to further promote the vigorous development of RCEP digitalization. From the current situation, the lag of cross-border data flow, the differentiation of regional infrastructure level, and the lack of digital economy talent reserve restrict the development of regional digital trade. Therefore, the author puts forward the following four suggestions:
First, promote Chinese enterprises to use RCEP clauses to achieve better layout. On the one hand, we will promote logistics enterprises, infrastructure enterprises, digital economy platform enterprises and digital service enterprises to "go global" with high quality, better layout in the region, and unblock digital trade channels; On the other hand, we will further improve the business services for small and medium-sized enterprises, effectively strengthen the provision of high-quality training for enterprises, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, on RCEP terms, certificate of origin application and other contents, timely publicize the relevant national policy changes and market information in the RCEP region, provide high-quality business services of various types, improve the digital level of small and medium-sized enterprises, and help enterprises develop the market.
Second, governments of all countries should strengthen cross-border regulatory cooperation, create a more open, active and inclusive market environment and regulatory environment, and help the healthy and sustainable development of cross-border trade in the region. For example, it is necessary to study and promote the establishment of Interconnection Mechanisms among cross-border payment systems of various countries, unblock settlement channels, improve the timeliness of cross-border payment, explore ways to allow payment institutions that meet certain conditions to access payment systems of various countries, improve local settlement efficiency, and reduce business costs.
Third, cultivate and attract more digital trade talents. Actively promote the establishment of an interdisciplinary and more operational digital economy higher education and vocational education system, strengthen the integration of industry, learning and research, and provide more talents for enterprises; Improve supporting services, create an environment more suitable for the production and life of international talents, and attract more international talents to settle in.
Fourth, create typical cases of digital real integration, enhance mutual trust between all parties, and lay a foundation for better cross-border data flow. Promote enterprises to make good use of the massive data and rich application scenario advantages in the markets of RCEP member countries to create a typical case of digital real integration in the local area, which is not only conducive to enterprise restructuring and utilization of global factor resources, enabling local traditional industries to transform and upgrade, and giving birth to new industries, new business forms and new models, but also conducive to firmly binding their own interests with the interests of local users, establishing enterprise brands, and reducing the resistance of cross-border data flow, So as to better develop RCEP market.
At the moment of global political and economic restructuring, countries around the world are always paying attention to the development of RCEP, the world's largest free trade area. If RCEP region makes new breakthroughs in the development of digital trade, especially strengthening mutual trust in cross-border data flow, it will further demonstrate the commitment of the Asia Pacific region to adhere to multilateralism and regional economic integration, bring certainty to the development of Global trade and investment, and promote the further development of economic globalization.