Companies set to reap huge RCEP benefits

During a ministerial meeting in Indonesia in late August, senior government officials from the RCEP member countries said they will accelerate the completion of the conversion of tariff regulations to make sure the implementation of tariff reduction runs smoothly.

Describing the RCEP as a comprehensive, advanced and mutually beneficial economic partnership, Li Fei, China's vice-minister of commerce, said effective implementation of the RCEP is of great significance to all members in promoting trade and investment growth, and maintaining the security and stability of regional industrial and supply chains.

Addressing the meeting, Li said China hopes that all member countries will accelerate the discussions on the procedures for new members to join the bloc, and reach an agreement as soon as possible.

The meeting approved the responsibilities of the RCEP secretariat, and thus will help promote the organization's operationalization before Jan 1. The meeting also instructed the RCEP joint committee and its subsidiary bodies to ensure transparency in the smooth and effective implementation of the agreement.

That would benefit firms such as Sanqing Food and Wuxi Richang Clothing Co Ltd even more. Based in Wuxi, East China's Jiangsu province, Richang Clothing has seen its workers actively engage in packaging a diverse range of newly made dresses, which will be shipped to several countries.

"This year, women's pajamas needed the largest number of the RCEP certificates of origin secured by the company. The import tariff rate in Japan has been reduced to 6.5 percent, and will drop further by 0.5 percentage point each year. Similarly, other products like dresses and trench coats will see annual reductions in import tariff rate of 0.5 to 1 percentage point," said Gu Wei, head of the company's trade department.

Gu said this arrangement creates a favorable environment for the recovery of China's garment industry and enhances the company's confidence in future growth prospects.

Richang Clothing received 344 RCEP certificates of origin from the Customs authorities in the first seven months of this year, with a total value of 43.43 million yuan. This has enabled the company to enjoy a tariff preference of 500,000 yuan in destination countries. Meanwhile, its exports to Japan surged by over 30 percent year-on-year.

To boost China's trade with other RCEP partners, expand interaction with trading partners worldwide and support growth of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, the GAC unveiled 15 policy measures in early August.

Launched in 2017, the land-sea corridor is a trade and logistics passage jointly established by provincial-level regions in western China and ASEAN members. It is also one of the key projects of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Wu Haiping, director-general of the Department of General Operation of the GAC, said the new measures include improving the land-sea trade corridor's links with the booming China-Europe freight train services and the Yangtze River Economic Belt.