New answer to Fujian's development: RCEP shapes new advantages in foreign economic and trade cooperation

(Economic Observation) New answer to Fujian's development: RCEP shapes new advantages in foreign economic and trade cooperation

　　China News Service, Fuzhou, November 20th (Reporter Long Min) Although the "Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement" (RCEP) will only come into effect on January 1 next year, it has For Fujian Province, the effect of RCEP has already appeared.

　　According to the Fujian Provincial Department of Commerce, in the first 10 months of this year, the capital received by RCEP member countries increased by 135.9% year-on-year, driving Fujian's actual use of foreign capital to increase by 5.9%; Fujian’s imports and exports to ASEAN increased by 300.8 billion yuan (RMB, the same below), a year-on-year increase 33.1%, ASEAN ranks as Fujian's largest trading partner.

　　In an interview with a reporter from China News Agency, the economic experts here said that the RCEP dividend is gradually being released, and it will promote the continuous growth of Fujian's foreign trade and economic cooperation, which will become the biggest advantage for Fujian's "14th Five-Year Plan" to get off to a good start and get off to a good start.

　　RCEP member countries are all important economic and trade partners of Fujian.

In recent years, the scale of trade between Fujian and RCEP member countries has continued to expand. From 2016 to 2020, the accumulated trade value has exceeded 1.9 trillion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of 12.1%.

In 2020, Fujian Province's imports and exports to RCEP member countries was 494.31 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 13.6%, accounting for 35.2% of the province's total foreign trade imports and exports during the same period.

　　Huang Maoxing, a professor at the School of Economics of Fujian Normal University, believes that RCEP will help Fujian unblock the regional industrial chain and supply chain, better connect domestic and international markets and two resources, and shape new advantages in foreign economic and trade cooperation.

　　As early as January this year, Fujian introduced seven measures to seize RCEP opportunities, including expanding two-way trade, implementing project drive, and increasing precision investment promotion.

　　In June of this year, Fujian once again proposed 28 action plans in ten areas, including expansion of trade in goods, investment promotion and efficiency, and expansion of Fujian businessmen to sea, to further deepen economic and trade cooperation with RCEP member states.

　　Huang Maoxing said that RCEP has a rich level of influence on different industries and industries in Fujian Province, including textiles, clothing, light industry, mechanical and electrical products, and agricultural products, are expected to benefit further.

　　Taking textile and apparel products as an example, RCEP will help East Asia and Southeast Asia to better form the world's most competitive textile and apparel manufacturing center and consumption center.

The relevant person in charge of the Fujian Council for the Promotion of International Trade believes that for the Fujian textile and garment industry, it enjoys convenience in terms of suppliers, logistics and customs clearance. Tariff reduction arrangements are conducive to maintaining and enhancing the industry’s export competitiveness, and trade digitization and facilitation measures are conducive to Deepen international production capacity cooperation, expand regional investment, and better build a mutually beneficial and win-win textile industry chain supply chain cooperation system.

　　Facing the adverse effects of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, Fujian is still strengthening online and offline cooperation with RCEP member countries.

At the China (Fujian)-Philippines Economic and Trade Promotion Conference held on November 7th, Huang Dezhi, deputy director of the Fujian Provincial Department of Commerce, expressed the hope that Fujian and the Philippines will take advantage of the good opportunity of the upcoming implementation of RCEP to increase investment, trade, and financial communication. Cooperation and exchanges, to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results, promote common development, and better benefit the people of the two places.

　　In just six months, the activities of Japanese-funded enterprises in Fujian have been continuously held. Dozens of Japanese-funded enterprises and institutions have visited Fujian to carry out project matchmaking discussions on biopharmaceuticals, health care, cold chain logistics, hydrogen energy, semiconductors and other industries.

　　The Japanese and Philippine markets have become key areas for Fujian to develop new opportunities for RCEP.

The relevant person in charge pointed out that RCEP is the first free trade agreement signed between China and Japan. The average tariff level between China and Japan will be greatly reduced year by year, and the Philippines is the largest export market for Fujian Province to RCEP member countries.

　　Moving towards the "14th Five-Year Plan", Fujian continues to deepen cooperation with RCEP member countries in infrastructure connectivity, technological innovation, economic and trade industry cooperation, as well as exchanges and cooperation in the fields of energy, ocean, digital economy, ecological and environmental protection, health, and humanities.

　　The relevant person in charge of the Fujian Provincial Department of Commerce said that Fujian will actively seize the opportunity brought by RCEP, implement the expansion of trade in goods of RCEP member countries, expand the trade of Japanese consumer goods, and guide the traditional advantage of Japanese consumer goods such as textiles, shoes and clothing, luggage, and ceramics. Enterprises, build a production, supply and marketing base for daily consumer goods, and form a distribution base for the entire industrial chain of China’s daily consumer goods, raw materials and processing equipment; expand trade in mechanical and electrical products, and expand imports of Japanese auto parts; expand intelligent equipment, construction machinery, Export of mechanical and electrical products such as ships and their intermediate products.

　　Xiamen is the hub of Fujian's foreign economic and trade cooperation.

Lin Zhenya, deputy director of the Xiamen Municipal Bureau of Commerce, also pointed out that we must not only seize the opportunity of RCEP implementation, but also be prepared to deal with the restructuring of the global value chain and the new situation of full competition in the regional market, and to better participate in international economic and trade cooperation. Promote Xiamen to build a higher level of open economic new system in the new era.

　　Xiamen is actively expanding the RCEP market, vigorously expanding the diversified trade market, promoting the optimization of the import and export structure of enterprises, and exploring overseas emerging markets; at the same time, it continues to optimize the policy environment and service platform, vigorously develop regional cross-border e-commerce, and encourage traditional manufacturing companies and commerce. Circulation companies open up the global market and support traditional foreign trade companies to build their own cross-border e-commerce brands.

　　With the global epidemic still taking place and the global economic downturn, the coming into effect of RCEP will obviously help Fujian continue to strengthen its new advantages in participating in international economic cooperation and competition, promote the domestic and international dual cycle, and accelerate the construction of a new development pattern.

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