The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) came into effect on January 1 this year. Singaporean scholars believe that RCEP has set a number of firsts, and China will play an important role in RCEP and other agreements.
China matters
Amitendu Pallit, a senior researcher at the National University of Singapore’s Institute of South Asia, said in an article in China Daily on January 7 that RCEP is different from other free trade agreements in many ways.
First, it sets an example of an inclusive free trade agreement that includes high-income countries such as Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, as well as emerging market economies such as China, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, as well as Myanmar, Low-income economies such as Laos and Cambodia.
Second, RCEP is a more ambitious trade agreement than other free trade agreements with ASEAN and its trading partners. RCEP proposes a series of new rules in areas such as cross-border investment, intellectual property, e-commerce and trade in services. In this sense, it sets a new framework for ASEAN and its partners on trade issues in the 21st century.
Third, RCEP is the first free trade agreement to include China, Japan and South Korea, the three major Northeast Asian economies. China, Japan and South Korea have long been committed to building a free trade zone, and now they are getting closer to that goal through RCEP.
Ma Kaishuo, a distinguished researcher at the Institute of Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore, said at the “Asia’s 21st Century” seminar hosted by the Globalization Think Tank on the 11th that the RCEP is a very important agreement, and China will play a vital role in it. This is not only reflected in the RCEP, but also in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
In Ma Kaishuo’s view, other countries and regions in the world need to learn from East Asia, especially from China and ASEAN.
Asia is back on the world stage
Ma Kaishuo analyzed: “Globalization used to be dominated by the West, and the West was also the biggest beneficiary, but now this globalization track initiated by the West is rushing towards Asia. At present, Asia is playing a pivotal role in globalization. role, strongly sustaining multilateralism.”
He further pointed out that in the future development, Asian countries should enhance their cultural self-confidence and give full play to their leadership in the process of globalization.
In his view, the 21st century will witness the return of Asia to the center of the world stage, as well as the peaceful rise of China and the reconstruction of the global order.
(Editor: Yan Yujie and Wang Hui)