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Xinhua News Agency, Hanoi, Nov. 15 (Reporter Tao Jun, Huang Shuo, Jiang Shengxiong) The Fourth Regional Meeting of Leaders of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) was held on video on the 15th. After the meeting , 15 RCEP member states formally signed the agreement.
At the online signing ceremony that day, the economy and trade ministers of the 10 ASEAN countries and the five countries of Australia, China, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand signed the agreement in turn. The leaders of 15 member states witnessed the signing of this important global free trade agreement.
The RCEP leaders meeting and signing ceremony took place during the 37th ASEAN Summit and the East Asian Cooperation Leaders Meeting. At the signing ceremony, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc of Vietnam, ASEAN Rotating President, said that after eight years of negotiations and consultations, ASEAN and its partners have completed a large amount of work, providing good prospects for the economic and commercial cooperation.
He also stated that RCEP will definitely promote the construction of the ASEAN Economic Community and make ASEAN a powerful partner in promoting common prosperity.
The RCEP negotiation was initiated by the 10 ASEAN countries in 2012 and invited six dialogue partner countries from Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand to participate. The third meeting of RCEP leaders was held in Bangkok, Thailand in November 2019 and issued a joint statement, announcing that 15 countries, except India, have concluded all textual negotiations and substantially all market access negotiations.
>>Current international review
Signed! East Asian economic integration ushered in an important milestone
Xinhua News Agency reporter Lin Hao
The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) was officially signed during the East Asian Cooperation Leaders Meeting on the 15th. The free trade zone with the largest population, the most diverse membership structure and the greatest potential for development was born. of the world. This is an important milestone in the East Asian regional economic integration process and has injected new momentum into the recovery of the regional and global economy.
At present, the international situation is undergoing profound and complex changes. Economic globalization faces a counter-current, unilateralism and protectionism are intensifying, and the new epidemic of corona pneumonia has severely affected countries around the world, including those in East Asia. In this context, 15 Member States have been in close consultation and signed the RCEP as scheduled. The signing of the agreement is an important step for the countries of the region to adopt concrete actions to safeguard the multilateral trading system and build an open world economy. It has a symbolic meaning to deepen regional economic integration and stabilize the world economy.
At a difficult time when the new corona epidemic is spreading globally, East Asian countries have chosen to open up and cooperate. As Malaysian International Trade and Industry Minister Azmin Ali said, the signing of the RCEP means that ASEAN and its dialogue partners say “yes” to free trade and “no” to protectionism.
Thanks to the joint efforts of all parties, the overall epidemic prevention and control situation in East Asia has stabilized and improved. Countries are resuming work and production in an orderly manner in a context of standardization of epidemic prevention and control, and economic and social development has recovered steadily. In East Asia, struggling to get out of the key node from the impact of the new corona epidemic, the RCEP firm has injected new momentum into the regional economic recovery. RCEP will further promote trade and investment exchanges in East Asia, strengthen regional industrial chain supply chain cooperation, and achieve complementary advantages and mutual benefits for countries in the region.
As the main engine of economic growth in East Asia, China is the first to control the epidemic and achieve economic recovery, helping countries in the region to protect themselves against the impact of the epidemic. In the first three quarters of this year, China-ASEAN economic, trade and investment cooperation increased against trend and continued to contribute to the East Asian economic recovery.
China implements the new development concept, promotes high-quality development, accelerates the construction of a new development pattern, and promotes high-level openness while adhering to growing domestic demand. The third CIIE, held not long ago as planned, once again demonstrated the enormous potential of the Chinese market and demonstrated China’s support for trade liberalization and the role of a major country actively opening its market to the world.
China has been actively participating in the RCEP negotiations and has played an indispensable role. China, as always, will support ASEAN to play a leadership role and cooperate with all parties to implement RCEP, so that the results benefit regional companies and individuals sooner. With the signing of the RCEP, ASEAN generally hopes to continue to share the dividends of China’s development and openness. The countries of the region also hope to strengthen cooperation in joint “Belt and Road” construction, promote regional connectivity and unleash the potential of the East Asian market after the integration of RCEP.
The RCEP unites the consensus of the will of the countries of the region and shows that the regional economic integration of East Asia is what the people want. The signing of the agreement is the result of eight years of tough consultations between the parties and a new starting point for deepening East Asian regional economic cooperation. All parties should seize the trend, follow the general trend of open cooperation, promote economic recovery after the epidemic through mutual cooperation, benefit the countries and peoples of the region, make positive contributions to building an economy. global open world and continually move towards the goal of building an East Asian community.
