China has signed 22 free trade agreements with 29 countries and regions

22 free trade agreements have been signed with 29 countries and regions——

China’s foreign trade “circle of friends” continues to expand (Rui Finance)

　　Our reporter Kong Dechen

　　2023 is the year when the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) will take full effect. At a press conference recently held by the State Council Information Office, the relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Commerce introduced the results of RCEP in 2023 and related content related to promoting the construction of high-standard free trade zones.

　　Industry insiders believe that in the two years since RCEP came into effect, China and its member states have worked together, regional trade costs have been significantly reduced, industrial and supply chains have become more closely connected, and trade exchanges among member states have become closer, which has injected strong impetus into regional economic and trade cooperation.

Actively benchmark against advanced economic and trade rules

　　In terms of expanding the global network of high-standard free trade zones, the Ministry of Commerce took a series of measures last year and achieved considerable results.

　　——China’s free trade “circle of friends” continues to expand. “In 2023, we set a new historical record in the negotiation and signing of free trade agreements. We signed 4 new agreements, signing free trade agreements with Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Serbia, and signing a protocol to further upgrade the free trade agreement with Singapore. We have also substantially completed the early harvest negotiations for the free trade agreement with Honduras." Wang Shouwen, international trade negotiator and vice minister of the Ministry of Commerce, said at the meeting that China has signed 22 free trade agreements with 29 countries and regions, accounting for 10% of China's foreign trade agreements. About 1/3 of the total trade volume.

　　——The level of network openness in the free trade zone has been further improved. In terms of content, a new level of high standards has been achieved. "For example, in terms of upgrading Nicaragua's free trade agreement and Singapore's free trade agreement, we have made high-level cross-border service trade and mutual investment opening commitments in accordance with the negative list model. This is the first step in China's free trade agreement negotiations. Once." Wang Shouwen said.

　　Zhang Monan, deputy director and researcher of the U.S. and European Department of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, believes that China's accelerated pace of high-level opening up is reflected in its shift from "looking inward" institutional innovation to "looking outward" and actively aligning with international high-standard rules. "Comprehensively promoting institutional opening up will inevitably require strengthening the docking of rules, regulatory coordination, management improvement, and standard setting, cultivating and strengthening new advantages to participate in a new round of international competition, and making better use of the world's advanced resource elements." Zhang Monan said, "my country is actively Actively benchmark advanced economic and trade rules, improve compatibility with the new round of global economic and trade rules, remove institutional barriers that hinder the market-based allocation of production factors and the circulation of goods and services, and cultivate and stimulate my country's ultra-large-scale market potential."

Comprehensive and high-quality implementation of RCEP

　　Last year, the import and export volume between China and the other 14 RCEP member states reached 12.6 trillion yuan, an increase of 5.3% compared with before the agreement takes effect in 2021. Among them, China's exports to other RCEP member states increased by 16.6%, which was 4.6 percentage points higher than China's global export growth during the same period. It is particularly worth mentioning that China’s export performance of new energy vehicles, lithium batteries, and photovoltaic products has been even more impressive.

　　In terms of tariff reduction and exemption, RCEP superimposes the bilateral free trade agreements that have come into effect between China and other members, creating good conditions for enterprises to enjoy better benefits. Last year, Chinese companies enjoyed 2.36 billion yuan in import tax concessions under RCEP. The main preferential imported goods were plastics and their products, machinery and equipment and their parts, organic chemicals, etc.; RCEP free trade partner import companies from The preferential treatment enjoyed by China's imported products has reached 4.05 billion yuan. The main export commodities include inorganic chemicals, clothing and clothing accessories, plastics and their products, etc. There are 723 approved exporters across the country who have independently issued 12,000 RCEP declarations of origin, with a goods value of 10.18 billion yuan. "This is a mutually beneficial result for both parties, which is very obvious. We also help local enterprises and industries enjoy the benefits of these free trade agreements." Wang Shouwen said.

　　The relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs previously stated that RCEP is a landmark achievement in regional integration and a vivid example of regional countries sharing development opportunities. In the two years since the implementation of RCEP, regional trade costs have been significantly reduced, and industrial and supply chains have become more closely connected, bringing tangible benefits to the participants. "We are willing to continue to work with all parties to implement RCEP in a comprehensive and high-quality manner, so that the world's largest free trade area can continue to release dividends and achieve common development and prosperity for member states."

Actively promote more cooperation negotiations

　　Wang Shouwen introduced that China is currently actively promoting its accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Digital Economic Partnership Agreement (DEPA). In August 2022, a working group on China’s accession to DEPA was established. As of today, it has completed 10 In the remaining rounds of ministerial-level negotiations, department-level negotiations and technical-level negotiations, DEPA negotiations have now completed preliminary discussions on all terms.

　　“We have organized relevant departments and industries to conduct a full, comprehensive and in-depth assessment of all the provisions of the CPTPP. We have also conducted a comprehensive, in-depth and thorough study of the rules on trade in goods, trade in services and investment involved in the CPTPP. ." Wang Shouwen said, "We are fully confident and capable of meeting the high standards set by CPTPP."

　　This year, China will continue to fully communicate with CPTPP members at all levels, including using multilateral international conferences such as the G20 and APEC to have in-depth exchanges with colleagues from CPTPP member countries. "We will continue to strengthen exchanges externally and strengthen pilots and experiments internally. I believe that our conditions for joining CPTPP will be more mature this year." Wang Shouwen said.

　　China’s free trade agreement negotiation agenda is richer. "We will work hard to complete negotiations with the ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0, complete negotiations with Honduras, upgrade the free trade agreement with Peru, and continue to promote the joining of CPTPP and DEPA." Wang Shouwen said, "In addition, we will also complete negotiations with Hainan China Federation of Economic Cooperation and Development, New Zealand, South Korea, and Switzerland will conduct free trade negotiations or upgrade negotiations to further expand the global high-standard free trade zone network." (People's Daily Overseas Edition)