On November 15, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement was signed among its 15 participating countries, launching the world's biggest free trade bloc. The signing of RCEP is important to promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation and realize high-level economic integration in the region.
Participating countries include the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. Coming together under RCEP would boost commerce across the group by lowering tariffs, standardizing customs rules and procedures, and widening market access.
The signing came after more than 30 rounds of negotiation, which was launched in November 2012, as well as a number of specific leaders and ministerial meetings between the participating countries. On November 4, 2019, the 3rd RCEP Summit stated that the final text with details of the trade agreement will go through legal reviews before being signed and released, and welcomed the conclusion of the RCEP negotiations and the commitment to sign the RCEP Agreement in 2020.
The 15 participating countries of the RCEP account for around 30 percent of the global population, global gross domestic product and global trade.
Aside from the specific provisions that cover trade in goods and services, and investment, RCEP also includes chapters on intellectual property, electronic commerce, competition, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), economic and technical cooperation and government procurement.
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