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Image source,EPA
Affected by the epidemic, this year’s ASEAN summit was held via video.
As the confrontation between the United States and China continues on trade and technology, the RCEP Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement will be signed on Sunday (November 15), which includes China and 14 Asian countries.
This agreement is considered the largest free trade agreement in the world due to the large population, trade and economic volume it covers. However, as the world’s largest economic power, the United States is not among them.
Before the signing of the agreement, ASEAN countries held a series of video summits of leaders with China, Japan and South Korea. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and leaders of the ten ASEAN countries participated.
With respect to this agreement, BBC Chinese has resolved the following basic points:
RCEP was initiated by ten ASEAN countries and initially invited six dialogue partner countries: China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India to participate. However, after India withdrew in the middle, there are currently 15 countries in this agreement, including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.
These countries have a population of approximately 3.6 billion, which represents almost half of the world’s total population of 7.8 billion. The total economic volume of the 15 countries is about 27 trillion US dollars, which represents about a third of the world GDP, and the trade volume also represents about a third of the world.
It is reported that although the agreement countries intend not to accept new members anytime soon, they will open the door for India to join at any time. Once India joins, the total population of this huge economic circle and its share in world GDP will greatly increase.
What is the purpose of RCEP?
The RCEP East Asia Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement aims to establish a free trade agreement of 16 countries with a unified market by reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers.
The RCEP negotiations involve more than ten fields, including small and medium-sized enterprises, investment, economic and technical cooperation, trade in goods and services, and are focused on reducing or exempting tariffs on trade in goods and services and reducing costs. market access thresholds.
Due to the large economic gap between the RCEP countries, including China and Japan, the world’s second and third largest economic powers, as well as many emerging market countries, the level of trade liberalization is generally expected to be less than from 11 countries, including Japan and Canada. The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP).
Observers noted that the priority of early tariff concessions among RCEP members depends on the interests of the lower-income ASEAN countries. Furthermore, RCEP is not like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which sets high standards in intellectual property, state-owned companies, labor, and the environment.
The 35th ASEAN Summit opens in Bangkok
There are already many free trade agreements based in the ten ASEAN countries in the Asia-Pacific region. RCEP is a collective update of existing agreements. A unified system of trade rules in the Asia-Pacific region will help reduce operating costs for import and export companies and reduce the risk of operational uncertainty.
RCEP history
In 2011, ASEAN countries introduced the RCEP concept, which was formally endorsed by the leaders of ten countries at the ASEAN Summit in the same year.
In 2012, the leaders of the ten ASEAN countries and China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand jointly issued the<区域全面经济伙伴关系协定>“Joint Declaration of Negotiations”, this free trade zone agreement covering 16 countries was officially launched.
In May 2013, the first round of negotiations was held in Brunei.
In November 2019, after more than 30 rounds of negotiations, the Third Meeting of RCEP Leaders announced in a joint statement that 15 member states had concluded all 20 chapters of the text negotiations and essentially all negotiations on access issues. to the markets.
International reaction and public opinion
All participating countries appreciate the prospects of this trade agreement.
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong hailed the RCEP as a “significant achievement”, demonstrating the determination of all parties to “maintain the rules-based multilateral trading system and promote regional economic integration.”
For 15 countries in the Asia-Pacific region to build a super economic circle, international comments focus on the importance of this economic circle for China.
Bloomberg News reported that the creation of the world’s largest economic circle by 15 countries in Asia and the Pacific, including China, “is the culmination of Beijing’s quest for greater economic integration in the last decade.”
Reuters noted that the agreement was signed at a time when the tense situation in the US elections raised questions about the interaction between Washington and the Asia-Pacific countries. China is in a better position to shape trade rules in the region. “
Japan’s Kyodo News Agency commented that “because China is not part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), another large-scale free trade agreement that was once led by the United States, China has played an active role in the implementation of RCEP “.
In the eyes of many commentators, this trade deal is a manifestation of China’s growing influence in Asia, and it is also the inevitable result of China-led trade competition from Asia against the United States.
The role of China
However, when the Chinese media recently reported on this agreement, they always emphasized that it was initiated by the ten ASEAN countries and that China was only “invited” to participate.
Before Chinese Premier Li Keqiang participated in this series of East Asian cooperation leaders’ meetings, Li Chenggang, China’s Deputy Minister of Commerce, still claimed that the conclusion of RCEP negotiations in various fields was the result. that “all parties actively advanced under the leadership of ASEAN.”
Image source,Xinhua
The third RCEP Leaders Meeting was held in Bangkok, Thailand, in November 2019 and issued a joint statement, announcing that 15 countries have concluded all textual negotiations and essentially all market access negotiations.
Before 2019, when Chinese state media spoke about the RCEP negotiations, they still claimed that they were “inseparable from China’s constructive role.”
In July 2017, Gao Feng, a spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce of China, once said that China will persist in “promoting talks, promoting cooperation and facilitating and will endeavor to promote the early conclusion of a modern, comprehensive, high level and of mutual benefit “.
China recognizes that RCEP members differ widely in terms of political system, stage of development, economic size, and openness. Gao Feng said that China “will always firmly support ASEAN’s central position in the negotiations and provide for the comfort of the majority of members.”
What RCEP means for China
China has repeatedly stated that the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement as scheduled “will fully demonstrate the positive willingness of regional countries to support multilateralism and free trade, and further deepen economic and trade ties.” .
As for China, when many neighboring countries signed the RCEP, the struggle between China and the United States was still going on. US trade investigations and restrictions on China have had a significant impact on China’s economy and trade, and China should try to break the restrictions.
For China to realize the “One Belt One Road” strategy, it is also necessary to rebuild the world trade system. RCEP will become an important basis for obtaining China’s initiative to formulate trade rules.
On the other hand, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) was an important part of the US strategy in Asia during the term of former US President Barack Obama. It is believed to be aimed at strengthening the bond between America’s allies in the Asia-Pacific region and Washington and counter China.
With Biden’s victory, the possibility of the United States returning to the TPP has increased enormously. If the new US administration struggles to reshape its position as a defender of the world trade order, China will undoubtedly face increased competition. Surely the signing of RCEP at the moment is more in line with China’s interests.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang once again spoke with the East Asian countries at the ASEAN meeting before the signing of the agreement: China is willing to strengthen the convergence of development strategies with ASEAN countries on the basis of “mutual benefit and mutually beneficial results” and promote cooperation in the joint construction of the “Belt and Road”.
