Fifteen Asia-Pacific nations, including China but excluding India, on November 15, 2020 signed the world’s biggest trade agreement, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), with the hope that it will help them recover from the shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The RCEP was signed after eight years of negotiations at the conclusion of annual summit of South-East Asian leaders and their regional partners, held virtually this year due to the pandemic.

 

The agreement, which covers almost a third of the world economy, will progressively lower tariffs across many areas in the coming years, reported Channel News Asia. After the signing, all countries would have to ratify the RCEP within two years before it becomes effective.

 

The RCEP was first proposed in 2012 and loops in 10 ASEAN nations — Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia — along with China, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and Australia.

 

China and Japan have reached a bilateral tariff reduction arrangement for the first time, achieving a historic breakthrough, according to China’s Ministry of Finance (MOF) on its website.

 

The signing of RCEP plays an extremely important role in the economic recovery of its members in the post-pandemic period besides promoting long-term prosperity and development, the statement said.

 

Moreover, the preferential results of the agreement directly benefit consumers and enterprises and will play an important role in enriching consumer market choices and reducing enterprises’ trade costs, the ministry noted.