RCEP officially takes effect
The interviewed experts believe that this will play an important role in mitigating the impact of the global epidemic, boosting international trade, and stabilizing the world economy
Our reporter Bao Xing'an
On January 1, 2022, the "Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement" (RCEP) officially came into effect, marking the official landing of the free trade zone with the largest population, the largest economic and trade scale, and the most potential for development in the world.
After the RCEP took effect, all parts of the country issued RCEP certificates of origin, and enterprises received tariff reductions and consumers became the biggest beneficiaries.
Liu Xiangdong, deputy director of the Economic Research Department of the China Center for International Economic Exchange, told a reporter from the Securities Daily that after RCEP takes effect, the tariff reduction process between member states will play an important role in expanding regional free trade and investment facilitation.
While enjoying tax incentives such as zero tariffs, it will provide countries in the region with easier customs clearance procedures and low-cost logistics, capital flows and business flows. There will also be a more open service market, allowing consumers to enjoy high-quality and affordable Goods and more convenient services.
According to reports, on January 1, Qingdao Customs issued the country’s first RCEP certificate of origin for a batch of more than 2,800 tons of calcium chloride exported by Qingdao Gulf Group Co., Ltd. to Japan.
With this certificate, the tariff rate paid by the company's goods after arriving in Japan can be reduced from 3.3% to 3%, and the tax reduction for this batch of goods alone has reached nearly 10,000 yuan; on the same day, Haikou Port Customs, a subsidiary of Haikou Customs, successfully issued Hainan Yanghang Industrial Co., Ltd.'s first RCEP certificate of origin, which is also the "first order" of goods exported to Hainan Province under the RCEP agreement.
With this RCEP certificate of origin, the company's batch of aluminum sulfate worth 46,301 yuan will enjoy zero-tariff treatment in Japan, with tax reductions of about 2,315 yuan.
Also on January 1, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and local agencies issued the first batch of 158 RCEP certificates of origin, involving 69 companies in 12 provinces and cities across the country.
This batch of certificates of origin mainly involves textiles, chemical products, medical products, food, etc. The export destination countries include Japan, Australia and other already effective member countries, involving an export value of 12 million U.S. dollars, and it is expected that tariff reductions and exemptions are 180,000 U.S. dollars.
Zhang Yiqun, vice chairman of the Performance Management Committee of the Chinese Institute of Finance, told a reporter from the Securities Daily that RCEP will take effect and related products will enjoy preferential treatment such as substantial tariff reductions. The tariff burden of enterprises will be greatly reduced, and excellent enterprises and high-quality products will be improved. People in many countries have recognized that high-quality market competition will promote enterprises to accelerate technological research and development, product upgrades, and achieve higher-quality development.
"In the future, the issuance of certificates of origin will be further expanded, and trade exchanges between RCEP member countries will show a trend of accelerated amplification, which will play an important role in alleviating the impact of the global epidemic, boosting international trade, and stabilizing the world economy." Zhang Yiqun said.
Liu Xiangdong believes: "The entry into force of RCEP will provide more convenient conditions for enterprises in the region to carry out economic and trade cooperation. It will not only help enterprises to expand the market in the region at low cost, but they can also rely on more convenient economic and trade rules and arrangements, such as the accumulation of regions of origin. Rules, service trade and investment two-way opening rules, especially the role of the certificate of origin "paper gold", to better do business with other businesses and form a deeply integrated industrial chain supply chain to ensure smoother and more convenient production and operation activities of enterprises. In addition, the flow of people within the domain is more convenient, which effectively promotes business activities."
Zhang Yiqun said that in addition to tariffs, trade facilitation and business environment among RCEP member states will also be greatly improved. Trade rules will be more conducive to the optimization, reorganization, and competition of enterprises among member states, and the unique advantages of industrial products of each country will be shown. More fully, the process of regional market integration will become more harmonious and mature, the industrial layout and division of labor unions will be more reasonable, and more market opportunities will promote the economic growth of all countries.
"With the implementation of RCEP, trade exchanges between member states will increase rapidly, the scale of trade will increase substantially, and consumers will become the biggest beneficiaries." Zhang Yiqun said.
(Securities Daily)