At the beginning of the new year, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) came into effect for 6 ASEAN member states including Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam and 4 non-ASEAN member states including China, Japan, New Zealand and Australia. It marks the official launch of the free trade zone with the largest population, the largest economic and trade scale and the greatest development potential in the world.
As an active force in the international economic and trade arena, overseas Chinese businessmen are keenly aware of the vigorous business opportunities of RCEP and actively participate in the development and construction of RCEP.
A number of interviewed Chinese businessmen said that they will actively seize the policy dividends of the agreement, integrate with the markets of the member states of the agreement, including the Chinese market, and demonstrate the achievements of Chinese businessmen in the vast world of the largest free trade zone.
"RCEP brings multiple positive effects"
Wang Siwei, Executive Director of New Zealand Ebayone Co., Ltd., has recently begun to feel the significant changes brought about by the RCEP's entry into force on the company's business.
"From January 1, the tariffs on New Zealand's butter, whipped cream and other products exported to China will be directly reduced from the original 10% to 20% to 0, which will make the New Zealand dairy products in the Chinese market compared with other countries' dairy products. Immediately show the price advantage. Thanks to this, the company's order volume of food commodities trading has increased significantly recently." Wang Siwei said.
As a systematic policy system, RCEP covers opening arrangements in many fields such as trade in goods, trade in services, investment, intellectual property, and e-commerce, among which tariff reduction is the focus of overseas Chinese businessmen.
After the agreement comes into force, more than 90% of the trade in goods among the approved members will eventually achieve zero tariffs.
"The entry into force of RCEP is exciting news for the vast number of Chinese businessmen and compatriots in the region. The reduction of tariffs and the optimization of customs procedures can effectively reduce the cost of enterprises, and our products can more easily enter the market of RCEP member countries and the market of enterprises. Bigger and broader development space. At the same time, RCEP’s more transparent, unified and predictable trade rules will effectively reduce the uncertainty and risks of business operations.” said Li Guixiong, vice chairman of the Thai Chinese General Chamber of Commerce and executive director of various industry associations .
The stability of the industrial chain and supply chain is another focus of Chinese businessmen.
"Previously, according to the bilateral free trade rules, if New Zealand's food is to be exported to China with the lowest tariff, at least 40% of the raw materials used must be produced locally in New Zealand. After the RCEP comes into effect, we can more flexibly use origins from other member states. materials, and have the opportunity to transport the goods to other countries for further processing, and finally sell the finished products in China. This process is also reversed.” Wang Siwei said, “This will encourage manufacturers to expand their trade territory and help the region to form a closer industry. chain, supply chain, and enhance the coordination effect.”
Bian Jun, President of the Sydney-Shanghai Chamber of Commerce in Australia and Executive Chairman of the Australia-China Business Summit, has been closely following the progress of RCEP.
He said that after RCEP comes into effect, overseas Chinese businessmen can choose the most favorable origin qualification standards and enjoy the most preferential tariff treatment, making it easier for export products between member countries to meet the preferential threshold.
"As a comprehensive, modern, high-quality and reciprocal large-scale regional free trade agreement, RCEP will surely bring various positive effects to Chinese businessmen," said Bian Jun.
"Under the unfavorable environment of the epidemic sweeping the world and the global economic downturn, RCEP will strengthen the stability and interconnection of regional industrial chains and supply chains, promote the development of free trade in the region, help maintain an open and inclusive multilateral trading system, and promote global economic recovery. It has also created unlimited business opportunities for overseas Chinese and overseas Chinese," Li Guixiong said.
"Enhancing the confidence of Chinese businessmen to participate in China's development"
All RCEP member countries are China's important economic and trade partners. The entry into force of RCEP will help partner countries to more fully share China's opening-up opportunities and development dividends.
"In recent years, China's economy has developed steadily and high-quality, and the international business environment has been continuously optimized. Overseas Chinese businessmen are optimistic about the development prospects of the Chinese market. The entry into force of RCEP will point out the direction for Chinese businessmen to participate in new opportunities for RCEP and China's new development, and enhance their confidence." Li Guixiong He said that at present, China and Thailand have good neighborliness and friendship, and all-round cooperation has been continuously deepened. The entry into force of RCEP will further attract Chinese businessmen to participate in economic and trade cooperation and cultural exchanges between the two countries.
"Singapore Chinese businessmen have a strong understanding and adaptability to Chinese culture and market. With this advantage, after RCEP takes effect, Singaporean Chinese businessmen who cooperate with China are expected to reap the benefits faster." said Wang Quancheng, president of Singapore Huayuan Association.
According to Wang Quancheng, Singapore Huayuan Association is taking active actions recently to help Singapore Chinese businessmen integrate into the development and construction of RCEP.
"Recently, Huayuan Association has actively organized members to participate in RCEP seminars at home and abroad to learn about policies and development opportunities. Not long ago, representatives of Huayuan Association and I participated in the RCEP Youth Overseas Chinese Business Forum organized by Quanzhou City, Fujian Province, and also participated in Shandong Province. The RCEP regional business association alliance initiated by the province has established an information interconnection platform to help deepen cooperation. In the future, we will conduct more frequent exchanges and share investment opportunities and business information from China and other RCEP member countries. to promote more cross-border cooperation.”
"Most Chinese businessmen in Australia are engaged in the export business of wine, agricultural products, etc. Affected by the relationship between China and Australia, the trade of these products has fluctuated recently." Bian Jun said, "Both China and Australia have joined RCEP, and the agreement may be expected to enter into force. We hope that China-Australia relations will return to normal and create favorable conditions for Chinese businessmen in Australia to seize the development opportunities of RCEP and the Chinese market.”
Having worked in Laos for many years, Deng Lianghui, a young member of the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese and chairman of ASEAN Technology Corporation (Laos), witnessed the pragmatic cooperation between China and Laos in the fields of agriculture and digital information.
"In recent years, the number of Lao Chinese businessmen's cross-border investment in China and other ASEAN countries has been increasing, which has effectively broadened the company's profit channels and enhanced its brand influence. Now, the opening of the China-Laos railway will further stimulate China-Laos agriculture, forestry, Investment and cooperation in the fields of mining, logistics and transportation, carbon neutrality, etc., help enterprises to improve the convenience and timeliness of logistics, and reduce the cost and time of logistics and transportation. The entry into force of RCEP will also facilitate the participation of Chinese businessmen in Laos in regional economic and trade cooperation, which will help enterprises Better integrate into the multilateral trading system and enjoy regional trade preferences. The two policy dividends are superimposed, and Chinese businessmen have ushered in new development opportunities." Deng Lianghui said.
"The future of regional economic and trade cooperation is full of opportunities"
"RCEP not only brings the world's largest free trade area, but also represents the development trend of globalization. At present, the economic complementarity among RCEP member countries is very strong, and the regional economic development momentum and potential are also very large. If all countries go all out To support post-epidemic economic recovery and promote regional economic integration, RCEP will do a lot in the future. I believe that as the epidemic dissipates, RCEP will become an effective catalyst for strengthening regional cooperation. Over time, RCEP's open architecture will also attract new members Join to further expand the development potential." Wang Quancheng said.
Facing the huge opportunities brought by RCEP, Chinese businessmen have expressed that they will make full preparations for the implementation of the agreement.
"The China-ASEAN strategic partnership has become the most successful and dynamic example of regional cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. The entry into force of RCEP will further promote economic and trade ties between China and ASEAN countries." Li Guixiong said, "In the next step, our Thai Chinese business enterprises will actively develop RCEP. The market of member states, especially the Chinese market, will also actively transform and upgrade enterprises and products, and take advantage of the technological flow, commodity flow and capital flow brought by RCEP to enhance the core competitiveness of enterprises and make them stronger and bigger. ."
"Sydney and Shanghai Chamber of Commerce in Australia has been serving Chinese businessmen in Australia and supporting Chinese businessmen to open up new markets for many years. After RCEP comes into effect, we will continue to encourage Chinese businessmen to participate in Sino-Australian economic and trade exchanges. At the same time, Chinese businessmen in Australia must also be proactive and enterprising in service trade and digital economy. More expansion in other aspects." Bian Jun said.
Deng Lianghui introduced that ASEAN Technology Co., Ltd. (Laos) is the main contract operator of the RCEP Overseas Enterprise Service Center of Guangxi International Chamber of Commerce. In the next step, he will lead the company to set up cooperative service points in major cities in China, analyze and judge how overseas Chinese businessmen can grasp RCEP dividends locally. It will also evaluate the opportunities and risks facing the market, and strive to screen out 1-2 industries and 3-6 enterprises for pilot service cooperation in the first quarter.
"In the future, under the guidance and support of the Guangxi Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, we will organize Chinese businessmen to actively rely on RCEP opportunities to explore investment opportunities in traditional fields such as agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, tourism, and logistics to turn to digital economy development." Deng Lianghui said.
Wang Siwei believes that after RCEP takes effect, a "three-wheel drive" model of trade in goods, trade in services and capital investment will be formed in the region.
Among them, in the field of service trade, cross-regional service chains such as financial settlement, legal consultation, and marketing will be formed; in the field of investment, RCEP is expected to encourage Chinese capital to invest abroad along the trade chain and service chain, and also provide services for other countries. More opportunities for investors and overseas Chinese businessmen to invest in China.
"Driven by RCEP, there will be opportunities for regional economic and trade cooperation in the future. In 5-10 years, we will witness the formation of higher-level, wider and deeper cooperation in the region promoted by RCEP," said Wang Siwei.