Experts: RCEP to benefit regional integration and global economy

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement is set to accelerate the regional economic integration, inject more growth impetus to the world's economic recovery and shore up multilateralism and free trade, experts said on Sunday.

The experts were speaking at the RCEP Media & Think Tank Roundtable Forum held both online and offline under the theme of "the RCEP comes into effect: new prospects for regional cooperation and development".

The forum was jointly organized by the Publicity Department of the CPC Hainan Provincial Committee, China Daily, the Hainan-based China Institute for Reform and Development, and the Hainan Institute for Free Trade Ports Studies.

The agreement, which came into effect on Jan 1 and covers one-third of the global population and domestic gross product, will add more resilience to regional industrial and supply chains, create a more fair and transparent regional business climate, and promote the building of common human community with a shared future, experts said.

While addressing the opening ceremony of the event, Zhou Shuchun, publisher and editor-in-chief of China Daily, said the organizers hope the forum could provide an international platform for sharing experiences and insights and crystalizing wisdom for deepening cooperation and achieving win-win situation through opening-up practices.

"The agreement's official entry means the free trade area with the largest population, economic and trade size and development potential in the world has officially formed," Zhou said. 

"It is given that a unified regional market will unleash huge trade growth potential in the region, which will vigorously promote regional economic integration for higher quality and at a deeper level and strengthen the presence of Asia-Pacific in the global economic and trade arena."

The trade pact's implementation is a testimony that true multilateralism and free trade is the trend of history while also indicating a future of mutually beneficial cooperation with opening-up practices and win-win outcomes. 

"It is very encouraging that the coming into effect of the RCEP agreement has been widely seen as a major victory of multilateralism and free trade. Many member states have said the trade pact signals their common commitment to opening up and interconnecting supply chains and promoting deeper and closer relations based on mutual reliance, to advocate for the importance of free trade," Zhou said. 

"Removing wall-like barriers instead of building more is the trend of history, and it is in line with the interests of people in the world to firmly support a multilateral trading system," he added. 

Signed by 15 Asia-Pacific countries, including all 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, in November 2020, the RCEP agreement came into effect in 10 members that include six ASEAN states, China, Japan and New Zealand at the start of the year, to be followed by the implementation in South Korea on Feb 1.

With provisions on liberalization and facilitation in both goods and services trade and investment, experts said the pact's boost to growth in the region and free trade in the world is all-round.