Since the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) came into effect for more than a year, its dividends to promote regional trade and investment growth and economic recovery have been continuously released. At present, how to promote the full implementation and continuous upgrading of RCEP, jointly build the world's largest free trade area, and further release the dividends of RCEP in deepening regional economic and trade cooperation and promoting regional economic recovery and growth has become a major issue of common concern to all parties.

【Commentary】On May 5, the "21 RCEP Regional Development Media Think Tank Forum" was held in Haikou. More than 2023 representatives from mainstream media, think tanks, international organizations, embassies in China and business circles from China, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, Australia, the United Kingdom and other countries attended the forum and actively offered suggestions for promoting regional exchanges and cooperation.

Chi Fulin, president of the China (Hainan) Institute of Reform and Development, said in an interview that a major trend in the future development of global free trade is shared development. RCEP will drive regional development in the next few years and release the vitality of sustainable growth.

Chi Fulin, president of China (Hainan) Institute of Reform and Development

The RCEP with ASEAN as the main body and the RCEP actively promoted by China will have the vitality of sustainable growth. RCEP will gradually move towards a high-level opening process in the next few years. RCEP can also be integrated with certain provisions and certain institutions of the CPTPP (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership), so as to promote RCEP to a higher level. If the conditions are ripe and RCEP and CPTPP are directly integrated, this will lay the most important, basic and main conditions for the establishment of the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific.

Weng Shijie, chairman of the Malaysian New Asia Strategic Research Center and former Minister of Transport of Malaysia, said that at present, the recovery of the post-epidemic era of the economy needs grasp and opportunities, and RCEP-related policies can play an important role in it. In the early days of RCEP coming into force, he hoped that the signatories could promote public awareness of RCEP and incorporate more opinions from NGOs and business owners.

Chairman of the Malaysian New Asia Strategic Studies Center and former Minister of Transport of Malaysia, Ong Si Kit

Especially (private) think tanks or some business associations, etc., I think they can take a certain responsibility and play a certain role in this regard to promote the implementation of RCEP in all aspects. Because after all, RCEP is inseparable from business (industry). We can't just work on policy, we have to talk to industry owners and business owners on tax or trade, and I think they should have some say.

Xu Ningning, executive chairman of the China-ASEAN Business Council and chairman of the RCEP Industrial Cooperation Committee, believes that the high-level opening of the Hainan Free Trade Port should give full play to its location, policy and industrial advantages, so as to more effectively connect with neighboring RCEP member countries and promote common development between China and other member countries, mutual benefit and win-win results.

Xu Ningning, Executive Chairman of China-ASEAN Business Council and Chairman of RCEP Industrial Cooperation Committee

It is to strive to settle the Chinese Secretariat of the relevant industry cooperation mechanism of RCEP in Hainan Island, such as logistics cooperation in service trade, such as cross-border e-commerce cooperation, health cooperation, green economy development cooperation, then these specific industry cooperation mechanisms are settled on Hainan Island. This enables Hainan to create a cooperation model in RCEP open cooperation.

It is understood that the RCEP Regional Development Media Think Tank Forum held every year since 2021 has had a positive and extensive impact on promoting RCEP interregional economic and trade cooperation and people-to-people exchanges.

Reporter Lin Shijie reported from Haikou

Responsible Editor: [Ge Cheng]