Experts: RCEP to benefit regional integration and global economy

Chi Fulin, president of China Institute for Reform and Development, spoke highly of the RCEP agreement's openness, inclusiveness, and step-by-step approach.

The agreement welcomes any economy to join in, strikes a balance among interests of countries with different levels of development, and pragmatically promotes opening-up and cooperation among member states, according to Chi, who is also president of the Hainan Institute for Free Trade Port Studies.

"The entry into force of the RCEP agreement will not only inject new impetus for regional economic integration, but will also make more contribution to the progressing of global free trade," Chi said, adding the full play of RCEP policies will help build secured and stable industrial and supply chains. 

Tariffs on around 90 percent of goods traded in the region will be eventually eliminated, to significantly reduce costs of trade and prices of products in the region. The cumulative rules of origin, which allow for products to have just 40 percent of their value added within the region to enjoy tariff reduction or elimination, will encourage enterprises to source from the region, to promote the formation of closer, more stable, and more competitive regional industrial cooperation system, said Chi. Rules of origin in a free trade area determine if a product originates from a member, so that related provisions can be applied.

The agreement's provisions on services trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, will create a stable, open, and transparent investment environment for all investors both, he said.

He suggested member states strengthen efforts to accelerate alignment of market regulation and Customs information share and recognition to form a united regional market, and advance the construction of common markets in key areas such as agricultural products, services, and digital economy. 

Wu Hailong, president of the China Public Diplomacy Association, said the implementation of the agreement is another milestone for free trade in the region after overcoming disruptions from protectionism. 

Speeding up flows of products and other production factors in the region, the entry into effect of the free trade agreement will unleash trade growth potentials to propel regional economic recovery and further growth, he said, urging the member states to improve logistics and customs clearance efficiency, to create more favorable conditions for intra-regional investment and form a closer and more resilient regional industrial and supply chains.

He also suggested media and think tanks to play a more positive role in facilitating regional communication and the implementation of the pact.

Wang Yiming, vice-chairman of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, said the entry of the RCEP agreement was a major event for promoting economic globalization and regional economic integration, amid changes unseen in a century and the global pandemic that have led to interconnected risks, including disrupted global industrial and supply chains, surges in commodity prices, and shortage of energy supplies. 

The agreement will deepen regional economic and trade cooperation, increase regional industrial and supply chain resilience, and promote development of services trade, according to him.

Ong Tee Keat, president of the Center for New Inclusive Asia in Malaysia, who is the country's former minister of transport, said the RCEP agreement is likely to send important messages on global free trade and open regionalism amid the ongoing global pandemic.

The agreement was born in the middle of rising protectionism, supply chain disruption, a great deal of uncertainty of the pandemic spreading, and increasingly intensifying US-China trade row, he said, adding the regional free trade deal can serve as a building block for the multilateralism in the years to come.

Bert Hofman, director of the East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore, said the RCEP's coming into force was another milestone in global and regional integration.

"It is important for mankind to work together and to benefit from globalization and to benefit from high standards in trade," he said.

A recent study of the Asian Development Bank suggested the agreement will increase members' income by more than half a percent by 2030, include adding some $245 billion in annual income and 2.8 million jobs in regional employment, he said.

Attracting participants from home and abroad, the forum featured sessions respectively on RCEP and regional economic integration, and plans and actions of media and think tank cooperation for RCEP regional people-to-people exchange.

Participants also included Ahn Choong-yong, distinguished professor of the Graduate School of International Studies at Chung-Ang University in South Korea, Su Ge, former president of the China Institute of International Studies, who is also former co-chair of Pacific Economic Cooperation Council and chairman of PECC-China, Pana Janviroj, executive director of Asia News Network, Zhang Yunling, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and a professor of Shandong University, and Huo Jianguo, vice-chairman of the China Society for World Trade Organization Studies.