Conspiring for regional development and jointly writing a new chapter of cooperation——RCEP releases huge dividends in the first year of its implementation
Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, January 1. Title: Conspiring for regional development and co-writing a new chapter of cooperation – RCEP releases huge dividends in the first year of its implementation
Xinhua News Agency reporter
On December 22, 2022, the “Haifeng Jakarta 2228S” freighter carrying 72 new energy vehicles for foreign trade export successfully set sail at Qinzhou Port in Guangxi. A week later, this batch of goods enjoyed lower tariffs than a year ago, and entered the Thai market after completing customs clearance.
The cost of trade in goods has been significantly reduced, the deep integration of the industrial chain supply chain value chain, and inclusive development have benefited the people in the region… On January 1, 2023, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) ushered in the first anniversary of its entry into force. Over the past year, RCEP has greatly boosted confidence in regional economic recovery and injected strong impetus into regional and even global trade and investment growth.
Economic and trade cooperation dividend: a higher level of opening up will benefit 2.2 billion people
For agricultural product manufacturers in ASEAN countries, the major benefit of RCEP’s entry into force is that lower tariffs will bring about lower import costs and more export opportunities. According to the agreement, more than 90% of the trade in goods in the region will eventually achieve zero tariffs, which greatly promotes cross-border trade.
In Vientiane, Laos, a special train loaded with durians, longan, green coconuts, bananas and other fruits departed from Vientiane Railway Station. After entering the country via the China-Laos Railway, they were transported to Chengdu and Chongqing through cold chain containers, and then distributed to various places.
The smooth opening of this fruit import railway to the cross-border channel can more than double the timeliness of transportation, greatly shorten the time and cost of cross-border fruit transportation.
Xu Guowu, chairman of the Lao-China General Chamber of Commerce, said that RCEP is an amplifier of infrastructure connectivity. If the interconnection of infrastructure is hardware, then RCEP is a set of general software. With the opening of the China-Laos Railway and the entry into force of RCEP, the effective resources of all parties are linked, so that various resources, various needs, and various markets can be freely matched on a common platform, which increases effectiveness, improves efficiency, and expands the market.
With the upgrading of China’s consumption structure, snacks, cakes, trendy drinks and other products made from Southeast Asian fruits have been continuously launched in recent years, which has enriched the taste buds of Chinese consumers and also made some food companies see business opportunities.
In a bakery food production workshop, workers are busy on the assembly line with full attention, producing durian crisps made of durian meat imported from ASEAN countries; outside the workshop, logistics trucks are waiting to be packed and transport durian crisps to various places market.
Tang Chunlong, deputy general manager of Guangxi Xuanma Food Co., Ltd., said that the durian crisps retain the freshness of the durian meat. After receiving the order from the e-commerce company, they are produced on the same day and shipped on the same day, and are sold all over the country. Once the product was launched in 2019, it was welcomed by the market, and the annual sales increased rapidly from more than 800,000 yuan at the beginning to nearly 20 million yuan in 2022. Inspired by the hot sales of durian crisps, the company plans to develop more baked foods with ASEAN fruits as raw materials to further expand the ASEAN market.
In 2022, Vietnamese passion fruit and durian will be allowed to enter the Chinese market successively. “This is good news for Vietnam, which is rich in fruit resources.” Do Thi Thu, a lecturer at the Vietnam Banking Institute, said that he hopes that more Vietnamese agricultural products will be exported to China in the future, so that the two countries can take advantage of complementary resources and make full use of RCEP to promote bilateral trade relations. Keep moving forward.
In the production workshop of Zhaochi Lighting Co., Ltd. located in Shenzhen, Guangdong, workers are working overtime to assemble a batch of LED ceiling lamps that are planned to be exported to Japan. Shao Kuixian, the person in charge of the company, said that the entry into force of RCEP has brought more orders to the company, and the export value of the company’s lighting products will increase by about 35% in 2022. At present, the company’s production schedule has been scheduled until April 2023, and 15 production lines are in full production every day.
New Zealand milk powder, Korean cosmetics, Japanese high-end electronic equipment… The deepening RCEP “circle of friends” stimulates the growth potential of foreign trade. According to data from the General Administration of Customs of China, in the first 11 months of 2022, the total import and export between China and the other 14 RCEP member countries was 11.79 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.9%, which continued to demonstrate the advantages of RCEP regional trade liberalization.
Asongsi, an associate professor at the Faculty of Economics of Thammasat University in Thailand, believes that RCEP is of great significance to regional and even global trade. The member states are mutually beneficial and win-win, and jointly promote the formation of a larger market, so that consumers can share more products. RCEP also encourages non-members to join in order to further expand the scope of the agreement and effectively promote the development of the multilateral trading system.
Industrial link bonus: the cornerstone of regional industrial chain supply chain value chain stability
The “Cumulative Rules of Origin” is a highlight of RCEP. According to this rule, except for some specific products, most products can enjoy the corresponding tariff preference as long as the value-added part realized during the processing belongs to 15 member countries, and the cumulative value-added exceeds 40%.
Taiji (Guangzhou) Automotive Interior Co., Ltd. mainly produces automotive interior accessories for Nissan, Honda, Mitsubishi and other automobile manufacturers. In the first 11 months of this year, the company exported goods worth 101 million yuan using the RCEP cumulative rules of origin, and enjoyed tariff reductions of about 400,000 yuan.
According to Zhong Minghui, manager of the company’s customs declaration department, the company’s car seat covers use imported raw materials from Japan, accounting for about 60% of the value, and enjoy the RCEP tariff preference according to the accumulation rules of origin, and the tax rate is reduced from 3.8% to 3.4%. , and will decrease year by year until it reaches zero. “This will further enhance the international market competitiveness of our products.”
Gu Qingyang, an associate professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, believes that the cumulative rules of origin determined by RCEP are an important policy innovation, making the layout of related industries more flexible in compliance with the principle of efficiency, which will effectively promote the supply chain of industrial chains among member states integrate. RCEP member countries have strong industrial complementarity characteristics, and the growth of direct investment among RCEP member countries reflects the continuous strengthening of industrial chain integration in the region, which is also very attractive to economies outside the region and is attracting more and more of global foreign investment.
Halma (Thailand) Co., Ltd., which entered the Thailand-China Rayong Industrial Park in 2014, is one of the overseas companies of the Chinese auto tire mold manufacturer Halma Group. It currently has nearly 500 employees. “Our suppliers come from China, Japan, South Korea and other countries and regions. After RCEP came into effect, the most intuitive change is that the efficiency of customs clearance for purchasing raw materials has been improved.” The company’s general manager Qiu Jinliang said that China and ASEAN have complementary advantages in trade. Common development, the multiple favorable policies from both sides make it possible for the company to establish itself in Thailand and radiate the entire Asian market, and it is very confident in its future development.
Cambodia has become part of regional and global supply chains, producing clothing, footwear, travel goods and bicycles that are exported around the world. Deputy State Secretary and Spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce of Cambodia Bin Soviji said that since the implementation of RCEP for one year, preferential tariffs have provided Southeast Asian countries with greater market access and injected important impetus into Cambodia’s trade growth after the epidemic. RCEP helps Cambodia diversify its exports and further integrate into the regional and global economy.
Zhai Kun, deputy dean of Peking University’s Regional and National Research Institute, believes that RCEP’s unified economic, trade and investment rules will form a greater synergy, promote member countries’ enterprises to give play to their respective industrial advantages, and make supply chains and industrial chains more efficient in the region. layout.
In the exhibition hall of Guangxi Tianheng Auto Parts Manufacturing Co., Ltd., products such as aluminum alloy battery trays for new energy vehicles, high-surface decorative aluminum materials, and aluminum alloy rail vehicle components are placed in prominent positions. This manufacturing company established in 2021 is now a mainstream supplier of battery trays for many new energy automobile companies and aluminum trim panels for home appliance companies, and has the core technology of aluminum alloy surface treatment.
“The raw materials, processing, and terminal markets of our enterprise’s aluminum industry chain involve resources from ASEAN, Japan, South Korea, and China. The entry into force of RCEP has reduced trade costs and enhanced product competitiveness. In 2022, the company is expected to achieve an output value of 450 million yuan, a year-on-year increase. 55%.” Li Zhi, general manager of the company, said.
In Indonesia, the Chinese auto brand Wuling has achieved localized production. In the second half of 2022, Wuling’s first new energy global vehicle Air ev (right-hand drive version) will officially roll off the production line in Indonesia and become the leader of the Group of Twenty (G20) The official car of the XVII Summit. The new energy automobile industry chain has driven a number of upstream and downstream enterprises to enter the Indonesian market, which will help promote the transformation of the entire Indonesian automobile industry chain, lead the new concept of automobile travel in Indonesia, and promote the rapid development of the local electric vehicle industry.
Yuan Bo, deputy director of the Asian Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce of China, said that over the past year, RCEP has greatly reduced the cost of trade and investment among member states, effectively promoted intra-regional trade and investment exchanges, and made the regional industrial chain, supply chain, and value chain more resilient. , more stable, and help the region resist external economic turmoil and shocks.
Inclusive Development Dividends: Bringing Regional Development to Common Prosperity
Ruan Mingzhuang, from Vietnam, is a doctoral student majoring in finance at Guangxi University. She has been living in China for more than 10 years from studying, working, and returning to school, and has witnessed the development process from the establishment of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area to the effective implementation of RCEP.
“From the beginning of learning Chinese to the current study of regional industrial economy, I have deeply felt the changes that the deepening economic and trade cooperation has brought to regional development.” Ruan Mingzhuang said that he hopes to continue to take root in China after graduation and engage in RCEP regional economic and trade work.
There are not a few young people like Ruan Mingzhuang who are full of confidence in regional development. Thanks to the increasingly close exchanges and cooperation in the RCEP region, people-to-people and cultural exchanges have improved significantly. The number of people doing business, studying abroad, and transnational marriages has continued to increase. Many people have a deep understanding of the changes brought about by RCEP. The regulations came into effect, accelerating the development of cross-border e-commerce trade in the region.
Zhuo Bingyue from Thailand has been working and living in China for many years. She is not only a young anchor, but also engaged in trade between China and Thailand. She was deeply impressed by the “U”-shaped yard loading and unloading process and terminal automation operations of Qinzhou Automated Container Terminal in Beibu Gulf Port, Guangxi.
“Thailand also has many ports. With the in-depth implementation of RCEP, there will be more cooperation between China and Thailand and other countries, and the exchanges and cooperation between Thailand and Chinese ports will be closer and more efficient. The trade between Thailand and China will achieve greater growth. It is accumulating energy for future development.” Zhuo Bingyue said.
Zhai Kun said that the increase in regional trade calls for diversified talents, and new types of trade represented by big data, the Internet, and cross-border e-commerce are becoming new growth points for service trade cooperation among RCEP member countries.
Malaysian girl Periya is one of the beneficiaries of cross-border e-commerce. She studied abroad in Nanning, Guangxi to study for a master’s degree in medicine. After studying, she became an anchor of a cross-border e-commerce platform by chance. In the live broadcast, she will introduce Malaysian durian to Chinese friends, and also introduce Chinese jasmine and Liubao tea to Southeast Asian friends.
“Live broadcasting is like connecting me with distant relatives and friends. I think I will continue to live broadcast part-time in the future.” Periya said.
Overall tariff concessions, cross-border and cross-regional industrial chain supply chain collaboration, further relaxation of market access… From the perspective of investors engaged in cross-border economic and trade cooperation, RCEP can drive the shaping and expansion of emerging industrial forms in the region and promote traditional industries. Transformation and upgrading bring more development potential.
Roy van denk, general manager of research and development of New Zealand company New Zealand, said that with the in-depth implementation of RCEP, New Zealand companies are facing more favorable tariffs and more convenient trade measures. So that Chinese consumers can quickly obtain high-quality products. China’s huge market provides opportunities for international companies like Theland, and will also promote the recovery of the world economy. It is foreseeable that the inclusive development dividend of RCEP will make the Asia-Pacific region more prosperous.
Peter Drysdale, director of the Institute of East Asian Economics at the Australian National University, said that RCEP is a huge stabilizing factor for the global trading system at a time when global trade is facing huge uncertainties. It can enhance the stability of regional economic growth and provide a good opportunity for the world economy to recover from shocks such as the new crown epidemic.