RCEP certificates issued around China as trade pact is activated

With the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership in effect, local customs authorities issued RCEP certificates of origin to companies nationwide, bringing tariff reductions to enterprises and eventually making consumers the biggest beneficiary.

At midnight on New Year's Day, China's first RCEP certificates of origin was issued to a batch of more than 2,800 tons of calcium chloride, which is set to be exported to Japan by Qingdao Haiwan Group. Thanks to the certificates, the tariff rate was reduced from 3.3 percent to 3 percent, a saving of nearly 10,000 yuan.

On Saturday, Haikou Customs issued the first RCEP certificates of origin in South China's Hainan province to Hainan Yangfan Industrial Co Ltd. Sartomer (Guangzhou) Chemicals Ltd obtained Guangdong province's first RCEP certificates of origin, while the first RCEP certificates of origin in Northeast China was issued to Tungsheng Group by Dalian Customs.

Also on the same day, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), China's foreign trade and investment promotion agency, and local authorities issued 158 RCEP certificates of origin for 69 Chinese enterprises from 12 provinces and cities.

Those companies' exports include textiles, chemical products, medical products, and food. The value of the exports came in at $12 million, and the RCEP certificates of origin are expected to help reduce tariffs for related Chinese enterprises by $180,000.

After RCEP goes into force, member countries can enjoy preferential tariffs when they export goods, playing an important role in boosting regional free trade and investment facilitation, Liu Xiangdong, a researcher at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges in Beijing, told Securities Daily.

With streamlined customs clearance procedures, low-cost logistics, flows of funds and business, it will bring a more open service market, and provide quality, affordable goods, as well as more convenient service for customers, Liu said.

More RCEP certificates of origin will be issued in the future, Zhang Yiqun, a scholar from the Society of Public Finance of China, predicted, adding that there will be a growing trend in trade exchanges among RCEP member countries.

It will also help alleviate the COVID-19 impact, promote global trade and stabilize the world economy, Zhang added.

RCEP -- the world's largest free trade deal -- went into force on Saturday. Covering about 30 percent of the global population, gross domestic product and trade volume, the agreement was signed on Nov 15, 2020, after eight years of negotiations.