China formally deposited the "Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement" approval
letter-what new changes will RCEP bring?
On April 15, China formally deposited the “Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement” (RCEP) approval letter with the Secretary-General of ASEAN.
This not only marks China's formal completion of the RCEP approval process, but also means that the economic integration of the Asia-Pacific region has taken an important step forward.
At present, China has basically completed the relevant preliminary work for a series of obligations such as tariff reduction, simplification of customs procedures, technical preparations for rules of origin, product standards, service trade opening measures, investment negative list commitments, and comprehensive intellectual property protection commitments.
What impact will RCEP bring after it takes effect?
The reporter learned during the interview that both consumers and companies are looking forward to the huge dividends that will be released by the reduction of trade costs.
Many scholars believe that RCEP will help regional economies to further exert their respective comparative advantages, enhance their overall position in the global value chain, and gain greater development stamina.
Good quality and reasonable price, "buy, buy, buy" has great benefits
Consumers are the first to benefit from reducing circulation costs and expanding the scope of trade.
The "Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement" (RCEP) is a free trade agreement between China and the ten ASEAN countries, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand to unify the market.
RCEP means a more favorable price.
"Pineapples in the Philippines, dragon fruit in Vietnam, durian and young coconut in Thailand... These fruits are now'frequent customers' in my shopping cart." Zhang Qike, who works in a kindergarten in Hangzhou, said that she loves fruit very much, but Imported fruits were generally expensive before, so there were fewer purchases.
"The price of imported fruits has dropped a lot this year, and special events have followed one after another. I bought a lot of categories that I was reluctant to buy before and tried them with my colleagues in the office!"
RCEP means better service.
Niu Ben from Zhengzhou, Henan Province used to study in New Zealand. He usually buys some New Zealand snacks, skin care products and health products. He also knows which brands are better.
Since the beginning of this year, Niu Ben has discovered that not only the prices of New Zealand goods have been reduced, but the delivery time has also been shortened a lot.
"It used to take two or three weeks for customs clearance, and now it can be released in about a week. And this year SF Express opened a New Zealand business, the cost of express delivery has also decreased, which is much more convenient." In Niu Ben's view, this is obviously a trade between the two countries The benefits of greater convenience.
So, which products in RCEP-related countries are more concerned by Chinese consumers?
According to Jia Meng, general manager of Suning International, Suning International has professional procurement teams in Japan, South Korea, Australia, Thailand and other places.
Although the new crown pneumonia epidemic has affected domestic and foreign business development to varying degrees, Suning International's business still maintains a good growth momentum.
Among them, imported products in the fields of maternal and child, beauty, 3C home appliances have become "sales responsibilities", and wireless Bluetooth headsets, infant milk powder, SK-II youth lotion, etc. are favored by domestic consumers.
Jia Meng told our reporter that the signing of RCEP means that by reducing tariffs and non-tariff barriers to establish a unified market composed of 15 countries, the area covered by the free trade agreement will become the world's largest free trade zone.
With the implementation of RCEP, overseas brands are expected to pay more and more attention to the Chinese market, and more brands will enter the Chinese market through cooperation with Suning International.
"In the near future, we will release the'Overseas Brands Service One-Stop Strategy' and the 2021'Soucangjia New Brand LAB Plan', adding new overseas brands to provide customized localization for overseas brands to serve Chinese consumers Marketing services." Jia Meng revealed.
"In the past, many people may have to go to these countries to buy things they want to buy through purchasing agents or traveling abroad. But in the future, 90% of the goods tariffs will be reduced to zero, which basically covers all aspects of the goods needed by the people. Things are cheaper. In other words, with the original quality, we can buy cheaper products." Professor Zhu Caihua of the Institute of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce predicts that in the field of commodity trade, there will be more outbreaks in the future. Style growth.
Lower cost, more opportunities for business cooperation
As consumers get benefits, businesses can do better business, and there are naturally more opportunities for in-depth cooperation.
On the one hand, RCEP provides a huge market for enterprises.
Xie Juan is the channel leader of the Japanese health food brand iSDG.
She is very concerned about any factor that may affect product sales.
"For a long time, iSDG has been cooperating closely with the Mengfa Group headquartered in Shanghai, China. Through Mengfa Group's sales channels, we delivered the latest and most cutting-edge health products of iSDG to Chinese consumers as soon as possible. From the first quarter of this year In terms of sales performance, iSDG's market share in China has increased by nearly 30% compared to last year. The completion of the RCEP approval process in China this time undoubtedly provides a new space for the cooperation between iSDG and Menfa Group." Xie Juan said.
In Xie Juan's view, as the world's largest free trade agreement, the population and industries covered by RCEP are very impressive.
At present, iSDG has more than 200 high-quality products with various characteristics, from the iSDG enzyme series, which has been selling well in Asia, to the health care series that are popular among middle-aged and elderly people such as natto and amino sugar.
As the first batch of cross-border brands in Japan, iSDG has already enjoyed a large wave of policy dividends under the support of the bonded trade model.
With the improvement and development of RCEP, iSDG will also usher in more opportunities.
On the other hand, RCEP is expected to enable e-commerce companies to exert greater "positive externalities."
David Lin, an overseas Chinese, started his business in Vietnam in 2004 and started trading at Ali International Station in 2008. He is now the owner of a juice factory in Vietnam.
From inquiries, transactions, advertising to smart marketing, in the past 12 years, every time the Ali International Station is upgraded, David Lin will become the first batch of people to try new services on the e-commerce platform.
Today, his juice factory has become one of the largest juice factories in Vietnam, with products sold in more than 100 countries.
"The signing of RCEP is very important for me to further consolidate and explore the Asia-Pacific market." David Lin said that although he is 76 years old, he is not convinced and hopes to use cross-border e-commerce to make the company bigger.
"On March 16 this year, we signed a cooperation agreement with Vietnam to help local foreign trade businesses go global. The agreement mainly covers 14 major industries such as food and beverage, home gardening, beauty and personal care, clothing, machinery, and agriculture. David Lin’s juice Factory is also among them." Zhang Kuo, vice president of Alibaba Group and general manager of Alibaba International Station, said that Alibaba International Station is preparing to increase overseas direct sales and service teams, copy China’s domestic digital transformation capabilities to RCEP countries, and focus on doing a good job. The refined operation of buyers after different identities improves the efficiency of matching transactions and ensures that domestic and foreign merchants can trade on the platform.
It is worth noting that many international institutions are very optimistic about the dividends brought by RCEP.
The UNCTAD research report shows that by 2025, RCEP will bring more than 10% growth in exports of 15 member countries.
The calculation results of the Peterson Institute for International Economics in the United States show that by 2030, the total national income of RCEP member countries will increase by US$186 billion, and the total annual export volume is expected to increase by an additional US$519 billion.
Complementary advantages, and work together to achieve a wide range
Openness brings progress.
Experts and scholars generally believe that RCEP will not only benefit trade, investment and economic development among the 15 member states, but will also inject positive energy into the recovery of the world economy.
-RCEP will enhance the status of the region in the world economy.
Zheng Yongnian, Dean of the Institute for Advanced Studies of Global and Contemporary China at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen), said that the world economy has always been centered in Europe and the United States, and the center of world economy in the next few decades or even half a century will be in Asia.
Prior to the signing of RCEP, the Asia-Pacific region lacked institutional constraints on trade. RCEP is the first step in the institutionalization of economic and trade in the Asia-Pacific region, which is of great significance.
Multilateralism is more conducive to the integration of regional economy and trade.
RCEP is also multilateralism on top of consensus, not imposed. Therefore, RCEP is the result of consensus and a new type of multilateralism.
——RCEP will deepen the level of industrial cooperation in the region.
Long Yongtu, consultant of the China Association for Trade in Services, believes that RCEP not only involves traditional fields such as tariff reduction, border quarantine, and dispute settlement mechanisms, but also involves areas that were rarely covered by previous free trade agreements, such as trade in services, investment access, and e-commerce. In the future, there is great potential to deepen negotiations in these new areas.
At the same time, RCEP will also promote the flow of factors in the Asia-Pacific region, and will greatly promote the aggregation of the Asia-Pacific industrial chain and supply chain.
For example, with the RCEP rules, Vietnam can import fabrics from China and natural rubber from Malaysia, and then export them to South Korea with zero tariffs.
"This will greatly promote the accumulation of industrial chains and supply chains in the Asia-Pacific region, forming a strong and competitive industrial chain."
——RCEP will bring more job opportunities and promote balanced development.
Zhou Maohua, an analyst at the Financial Markets Department of Everbright Bank, said that the RCEP Free Trade Zone is a free trade agreement covering one third of the world's total economic output, the most diverse global membership structure, and the greatest potential for development.
The signing of RCEP means that trade restrictions between member states and other members of the region will be greatly reduced and gradually eliminated, the flow of factors in the region will be more smooth, trade and investment will be more free and convenient, and the cooperation between the industrial chain and supply chain in the region will be promoted, which can significantly reduce the number of enterprises Production costs and barriers to entry will stimulate investment, improve employment, promote consumption and economic recovery, and at the same time reduce problems such as poverty and uneven economic development in the region.
ASEAN countries, Japan, South Korea, Australia and other places are important gathering places for overseas Chinese.
For overseas Chinese, the arrival of RCEP is undoubtedly a major benefit.
Xu Peiyuan, Dean of the Maritime Silk Road Research Institute of Huaqiao University, told reporters that China’s official signing of RCEP is another major event in China’s opening-up process. It is also China’s global epidemic, rising trade protectionism, and global value chains. Under the background of the organization, take the initiative to connect with new international economic and trade rules and stabilize and optimize the business environment in the Asia-Pacific region.
"At present, the global manufacturing network center is mainly concentrated in the Asia-Pacific region, especially East Asia, which is also a gathering place for overseas Chinese businessmen. The Chinese business network has become an important part of the East Asian division of labor and manufacturing network. Therefore, the stable system and operation created by the RCEP agreement The business environment will strengthen the supply chain of the Asia-Pacific region’s industrial chain and accelerate its restructuring. Overseas Chinese businessmen will also become the leaders in the new wave of investment and trade in the region by virtue of their inextricable connections with RCEP countries, in the creation of investment and trade effects. Strengthen the strength and share the dividends." Xu Peiyuan said.
Wang Junling
Wang Junling