RCEP brings new momentum to foreign trade

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) officially came into effect for the Philippines on June 2nd, marking a new phase of comprehensive implementation for the world's largest and most populous free trade area with the greatest potential for development.

Relevant data shows that from January to April this year, the total import and export volume between China and other RCEP members reached 4.12 trillion yuan, representing a year-on-year increase of 7.3% and accounting for 30.9% of Chinese foreign trade.

In Beijing's Wumart supermarkets, there is a wide variety of imported goods from RCEP countries. Xu Lina, an employee of Wumart Group, said that with the full implementation of RCEP, the prices of imported goods from RCEP member countries are expected to be lower, and the customs clearance time will be further reduced.

"Currently, we are purchasing commodities such as coconut water from Vietnam. It is expected that the sales volume of imported goods from Wumart Metro will increase by 10% compared to last year, ” said Xu.

“We will fully leverage the advantages of the international supply chain, expand overseas direct purchasing, increase the supply of high-quality fresh and other fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), and better meet consumer demands."

Wang Jiashun, head of the International Business Department of Qingdao Kaichuang Food Co., Ltd., said that 95% of the company's vegetable and fruit canned products are now exported overseas.

With the comprehensive implementation of RCEP, the company will choose more tropical fruits from Southeast Asia as raw materials and process them into mixed fruit canned products before exporting to markets such as Australia and Japan.

"It is expected that this year, the import of pineapples and pineapple juice and other raw materials from ASEAN countries will increase by more than 15% year-on-year, and exports are also expected to increase by 10% to 15%,” added Wang.

Data shows that in the first five months of this year, ASEAN continues to be China's largest trading partner, with the total trade value of 2.59 trillion yuan representing a year-on-year increase of 9.9%. This indirectly confirms the new momentum that RCEP has brought to foreign trade. With the full implementation of RCEP, more win-win cooperation will be achieved.

Source: People’s Daily; trans-editing by Wang Yunya