The role of regional comprehensive economic partnership in accelerating the construction of a new development pattern
Author: West Liang Fengyan forest
"Guangming Daily" (March 5, 2021 edition 11)
The Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Party focused on my country’s economic development goals during the 14th Five-Year Plan and a longer period of time in the future, and proposed to accelerate the construction of a new development pattern in which domestic and international cycles are the mainstay and the domestic and international dual cycles promote each other.
To build a new development pattern, it is by no means a closed domestic single cycle, but an open and mutually reinforcing domestic and international double cycle. It is necessary to build a smooth domestic cycle as the main body, and at the same time create a higher level of open economy to give full play to The interaction and mutual promotion mechanism between the domestic market and the international market enhances my country's competitive advantage on the world economic stage.
To this end, it is necessary to promote the construction of a new development pattern through the implementation of wider, broader, and deeper opening up to the outside world.
In November 2020, my country made breakthrough progress and historic achievements in the field of opening up and cooperation.
The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which lasted for eight years, was officially signed.
This marks the official establishment of the world's largest free trade zone with the largest population, the most diverse membership structure, and the greatest potential for development in the world.
China is an active participant, main coordinator and important promoter of the successful signing of RCEP. The successful signing of RCEP will play an important role in building a new development pattern in my country.
One
On the one hand, RCEP is conducive to deepening supply-side structural reforms, releasing the development potential of domestic demand, further promoting the reform of my country's economic system, and consolidating the advantages of the domestic cycle.
RCEP includes 10 ASEAN countries and 5 countries including China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand. The economic development of its members has a large gradient. This will help promote regional production capacity cooperation in an all-round way, release pressure on China’s production capacity, and help stabilize the regional industrial chain. , The supply chain is stable, and the efficient allocation of supply factors is promoted.
RCEP's in-depth opening and cooperation in service trade fields such as finance and telecommunications will help improve the competitiveness of China's service industry through market competition and promote the high-quality development of the service industry.
The official signing of RCEP will bring significant benefits to the economy of Asia and the entire world. It will not only add new momentum to the promotion of regional development and prosperity, but will also become an important engine for global growth.
By building a cross-regional, wide-ranging, high-quality, open and co-prosperous trade and investment environment, RCEP will inject a "coronavirus" into the recovery of the world economy and regional economic prosperity.
According to calculations by international think tanks, in 2025, RCEP is expected to drive member countries’ export growth 10.4% higher than the baseline.
A favorable external economic environment will surely promote the recovery of my country's domestic market demand through the role of external demand.
RCEP can promote China's continued expansion of opening up by building and connecting with the international high-standard market rules system, focusing on promoting the institutional opening of rules, regulations, management, and standards, and continuing to create a market-oriented, legalized, and internationalized business environment.
This will help further improve the socialist market economic system.
At the same time, due to the strengthening of natural resource protection in the country and the reduction of labor dividends, joining RCEP will have a certain degree of impact on some of my country’s industries, such as machinery and electronics, transportation equipment, petrochemicals, etc., but the impact is temporary because it will also affect Domestic enterprises have put forward higher requirements, forcing them to continuously improve and improve themselves through technological advancement and mastering advanced management concepts, and to change the traditional development model of embedding the international industrial division of labor with low-cost advantages.
On the other hand, RCEP helps to enhance my country's competitive advantage in participating in the international cycle by strengthening Asian economic and trade cooperation, bridging the institutional division of Asian economies, advancing the internationalization of the renminbi, and enhancing global governance capabilities.
The official signing of RCEP not only ended the imbalance between "active intra-regional trade" and "long-term gaps in institutional arrangements" in East Asia, it also demonstrated the common will of countries in the Asia-Pacific region to maintain multilateralism and free trade, and help strengthen Asian economic and trade. Cooperation.
RCEP has effectively resisted the trade protectionist policies led by the United States and the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic on the global production network. It can improve the consensus on economic and trade open cooperation in Asia, enhance the stability of economic and trade policies in the Asian region, and help strengthen the foreign exchange of member countries. Trade vitality and improve the level of national welfare.
RCEP helps bridge the CPTPP (Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement) institutional division of Asian regional economic integration.
As another giant regional free trade agreement in the Asia-Pacific Economic Zone, CPTPP includes countries such as Canada and Mexico, as well as Asian economies such as Brunei and Singapore.
China has not yet joined the CPTPP, which is not conducive for China to participate in and share the benefits of regional economic integration.
For example, China's textile and automobile industries are affected by CPTPP's "rules of origin", not only being strongly impacted by CPTPP member economies with low tariff preferences, but also further triggering overseas transfers of Chinese companies and hindering the construction of China's production network.
The Central Economic Work Conference proposed to actively consider joining the CPTPP, which signaled China's firm support for economic globalization and regional economic integration.
On the basis of expanding economic and trade cooperation with member countries, RCEP will improve the positive externalities of China's trade network, achieve a "snowball" effect, and encourage more countries to use RMB in import and export trade, which is conducive to the orderly promotion of RMB internationalization.
RCEP represents the formation of a new round of economic and trade rules for developing countries, helps to strengthen the inclusiveness of global economic governance, and helps to strengthen China's right to speak in the global governance system and improve global governance capabilities.
RCEP is not only the largest free trade agreement in the world, but also a comprehensive, modern, high-quality and mutually beneficial free trade agreement.
The agreement covers 20 chapters, including market access such as trade in goods, service trade, and investment, as well as a large number of regulations such as trade facilitation, intellectual property rights, e-commerce, competition policy, and government procurement.
It can be said that the agreement covers all aspects of trade and investment liberalization and facilitation.
two
After the RCEP is signed, my country still needs to focus on the integration of domestic and foreign systems, risk prevention, and further promote the construction of Asia-Pacific integration, in order to better grasp the strategic opportunities of RCEP to promote the construction of a new development pattern.
First, actively promote the integration of domestic system construction and RCEP agreement rules.
Further optimize the business environment, expand market opening, allow foreign holdings or sole proprietorship in more areas, deepen the reform of the free trade pilot zone, build the new Lingang area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, and steadily promote the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port .
In the face of future development prospects, in addition to the three major market access areas of goods, services, and investment, China will further promote the negotiation of new rules and new topics in the construction of the RCEP free trade zone, including the promotion of intellectual property rights, environmental protection, and electronics. Negotiations on business, competition policy, government procurement, etc.
Second, take the initiative to respond to, prevent, and resolve potential risks.
RCEP member countries differ greatly in terms of economic development level and cultural background. How to balance the interests of all parties and maintain the stable development of RCEP is an important issue.
In this regard, China must make corresponding preparations, coordinate development and safety, adopt scientific risk assessment measures, and formulate corresponding risk prevention plans to prevent all kinds of risks before they occur.
Third, to further promote economic integration in the Asia-Pacific region.
RCEP is the latest achievement of the regional economic integration agreement that China has participated in and promoted. It urgently needs to expand and deepen economic and trade relations with other economies.
While promoting and consolidating the development achievements of RCEP, China actively seeks opportunities to join the CPTPP at the right time will become a powerful starting point for my country to participate deeply in economic and trade development cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.
(Author: West Liang Fengyan trees, respectively Department of Liaoning University School of Economics professor, Northeast Research Center)