General

The RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement) came into force on January 1, 2022, and has reached its first anniversary. In Shanghai, the largest trading port in the world, according to the data of Shanghai Customs, in the whole year of 2022, the Shanghai Customs District enjoyed preferential import and export of 48.963 billion yuan under the RCEP, and the tariff reduction exceeded 600 million yuan. According to the customs data, the scale of preferential goods ranked first in the country.

Customs data show that the most obvious dividend brought by RCEP is tax reduction, and more than 90% of the goods trade in the region will gradually achieve zero tariff, which is a major benefit for enterprises with a large number of import and export transactions in the member countries of the agreement. For example, Shanghai Huafeng Superfiber Technology Co., Ltd. is mainly engaged in the production and operation of superfine fiber materials. The company's raw materials and products are imported from Japan and South Korea, and the products are shipped to Australia and Indonesia. When imported, the raw material tariff can be saved. When exported, foreign customers can enjoy the import tariff preference with the certificate of origin issued from China. This import and export can save millions of yuan of tariff each year, Greatly improve the company's competitiveness in the international market.

According to customs data, in 2022, more than 1900 enterprises in Shanghai enjoyed 68800 batches of export goods under RCEP. Among them, 354 enterprises entered the markets of other member countries for the first time through RCEP, and 994 enterprises that had never enjoyed preferential exports under the bilateral trade agreements realized preferential exports through RCEP for the first time. It is reported that in order to enable enterprises to "enjoy everything they deserve", Shanghai Customs has set up a special window for RCEP services at various business sites, and actively announced the telephone number of RCEP specialists. Zhang Zheng, the RCEP commissioner of the Shanghai Customs Tariff Office, told the reporter that because of the new and complex rules of the RCEP, when he was busiest, he could receive more than 100 consulting calls from enterprises a day. After the coordination and solution of the commissioner, the real landing of the RCEP and the benefits of enterprises were ensured.

According to customs data, in terms of trade volume, Shanghai's imports and exports to Japan and South Korea accounted for nearly half of the total value of Shanghai's imports and exports to other member countries of RCEP in 2022, and Shanghai's imports and exports to most member countries achieved growth. Gao Rongkun, head of Shanghai Customs, said: "As the largest free trade agreement in the world, RCEP will continue to promote and deepen regional economic and trade cooperation, and RCEP's' circle of friends' will also bring more real gold and silver to the development of regional economy and even the world economy."

It is worth noting that while RCEP brings tax reduction dividends, the dynamic adjustment of the industrial chain and supply chain by member countries using the rules of regional accumulation of origin is also accelerating. For example, some accessories originating in Japan, which were originally repackaged in South Korea and then exported to China, cannot obtain the certificate of origin issued by Japan to China. However, today, RCEP regards the free trade area as a whole. After the agreement enters into force for South Korea, when Japanese goods are repackaged in South Korea and re-exported to China by virtue of the "back to back" certificate of origin issued by South Korea, the RCEP treaty tax rate granted by China to Japan still applies. The relevant head of the origin management section of the first comprehensive business division of Pudong Customs analyzed that the redefined rules in RCEP are likely to increase or weaken the original advantages of a place in the region and trigger a new round of investment and trade transfer. Specifically, some of China's medium and high-end industries may be subject to competition from Japan and South Korea. At the same time, the cumulative rules of RCEP origin can help enterprises in member countries obtain raw materials from the most cost-effective places. China's relevant industries may also expand their layout to ASEAN countries, such as SAIC-GM-Wuling, which has invested in Indonesia.