RCEP agreement in effect for all 15 members

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement took effect today for the Philippines, confirming that the RCEP agreement is now in effect for all 15 members, reported Xinhua.

The full RCEP implementation reflects the determination and actions of its 15 members - 10 members of Asean, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, and New Zealand - in supporting an open, free, fair, inclusive, and rules-based multilateral trading system, China's Commerce Ministry said.

The RCEP agreement was signed in November 2020 by the 15 Asia-Pacific countries after eight years of negotiations. It entered into force on the first day of 2022, creating the world's largest trade bloc.

The full implementation will inject strong momentum into regional economic integration, comprehensively enhance the level of trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation in East Asia, and contribute to the long-term stable development of the regional and global economy, said the commerce ministry.

In 2022, trade between China and other RCEP members increased 7.5 per cent year on year to 12.95 trillion yuan (about RM8.4 trillion), while their investment in China, in actual use, went up 23.1 percent to US$23.53 billion, data showed.

China will continue to ensure solid RCEP implementation to give full play to its role in facilitating supply chain and industrial chain cooperation, as well as promoting high-standard opening up and high-quality development, the ministry said.

China will also work with other parties to fulfill its obligations, strengthen the RCEP mechanism, enhance the overall implementation of the agreement, and provide a strong guarantee for the steady development of RCEP cooperation, it said.

- Bernama-Xinhua