General

On June 2nd, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) officially entered into force for the Philippines, and all 15 member countries within the agreement have completed the entry into force process. The world's largest free trade area has entered a new stage of development, and the regional integration market is also moving towards a more prosperous future.

In recent days, customs across the country have been busy issuing RCEP certificates of origin, and foreign trade enterprises are also considering the potential benefits and new gains in expanding the international trade market this year.

At zero o'clock on the 2nd, Shenzhen Customs issued the RCEP certificate of origin to the Philippines for a batch of plastic accessories (for earphones) of Shenzhen Guanlai Electronics Co., Ltd. At the same time, the batch of goods also successfully cleared customs at Huanggang Port, becoming the first batch of customs clearance goods in Shenzhen after RCEP came into full effect.

Nearly 2000 kilometers away, just after midnight, at the RCEP Shandong Enterprise Service Center located in Shibei District, Qingdao, Qingdao Customs officers issued RCEP certificates of origin for a batch of container liquid bags exported by Qingdao Langfu Technology Co., Ltd. to the Philippines. This is the first certificate of origin of RCEP for the Philippines issued by Shandong after RCEP came into force for the Philippines.

This batch of goods weighs about 5.6 tons. With this certificate of origin, the customs duty rate of the goods during customs clearance in the Philippines can be reduced from 3% to zero. "said Ma Wenbo, the chairman of Langfu Technology. The value of this batch of container liquid bags is about 70000 yuan, and with the RCEP certificate of origin issued by customs, the goods can enjoy a tax reduction of over 2000 yuan during customs clearance in the Philippines.

On that day, Changzhou Customs under Nanjing Customs also issued the first certificate of origin of Jiangsu Province exported to the Philippines under RCEP. With this certificate, a batch of men's shirts worth 14800 US dollars exported by Chenfeng (Jiangsu) Clothing Co., Ltd. can enjoy zero tariff treatment in the Philippines.

Time reversal: On November 15, 2020, the 10 ASEAN countries, along with Australia, China, Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand, jointly signed the RCEP and promoted its official entry into force on January 1, 2022. The total population, GDP, and trade volume of goods in the RCEP region all account for about 30% of the global proportion.

Zheng Wei, an associate researcher at the China Service Outsourcing Research Center, told reporters that the effective implementation of RCEP requires member countries to complete domestic approval procedures, so the specific effective time varies. After the official entry into force of this RCEP for the Philippines, all 15 member states have completed the entry into force process. Afterwards, more than 90% of goods trade within the region will ultimately achieve zero tariffs, greatly reducing the cost of enterprise trade. At the same time, the flow of resources such as goods, services, capital, technology, and other factors between countries in the region will be more convenient and free, and the formation of a regional integrated market will also accelerate, promoting greater prosperity of the regional economy.

In fact, since the implementation of RCEP in early 2022, the economic and trade potential within the region has gradually been unleashed.

——From a trade perspective, in 2022, China's total import and export volume with other RCEP members reached RMB 12.95 trillion, a year-on-year increase of 7.5%, accounting for 30.8% of China's total foreign trade import and export volume; From January to April 2023, China's total import and export volume with other RCEP members was 4.12 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.3%, accounting for 30.9% of China's total foreign trade import and export volume.

——From the perspective of attracting foreign investment, in 2022, China's actual utilization of investment from other members of RCEP reached 23.53 billion US dollars, an increase of 23.1% year-on-year; From January to April 2023, China's actual utilization of investment from other members of RCEP reached nearly 8.9 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of over 13.7%.

——From the perspective of enterprise benefits, in 2022, Chinese enterprises will enjoy a preferential export value of RMB 235.3 billion under RCEP, and can enjoy a tariff reduction of RMB 1.58 billion from the importing country; The import value of Xianghui is 65.3 billion yuan, with a tax reduction of 1.55 billion yuan. In the first quarter of 2023, Chinese enterprises enjoyed a preferential export value of 62.29 billion yuan under RCEP, and could enjoy a tariff reduction of 930 million yuan from the importing country; The import value of Xianghui is 18.25 billion yuan, with a tax reduction of 480 million yuan.

Behind the series of numbers is the vitality and enormous prospects of regional cooperation, as well as tangible gains for enterprises. Zheng Wei introduced that during research, it was found that many companies have already enjoyed the dividends brought by RCEP. For example, he said that goods import and export enterprises mainly benefit from the cumulative rules of the region of origin. Many goods export enterprises in Beijing, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Shandong, Guangdong and other provinces and cities with large foreign trade scale have obtained tariff relief by virtue of the RCEP certificate of origin issued by the customs, which saves a lot of export costs for enterprises, improves the international competitiveness of related products, and also improves the enterprise's drive to expand the international trade market.

On May 20, Foshan Yiao Technology Industry Co., Ltd. successfully applied for a RCEP certificate of origin from the South China Sea Office of Foshan Customs under Guangzhou Customs. A batch of spring mattresses worth about 240000 yuan exported to Japan can enjoy zero tariff preference. As an environmentally friendly bedding research and development and production foreign trade enterprise, the company is targeting RCEP policy preferential opportunities and continuously increasing its market expansion efforts in countries and regions such as Japan and Southeast Asia to improve brand awareness.

Langff Technology is also considering potential new gains this year. Ma Wenbo said that after RCEP takes effect in the Philippines, it is expected that this part of exports will reduce tariff costs by about 80000 yuan this year. In addition, benefiting from the expected tariff reduction, the company's international trade export orders to the Philippines are expected to increase by 10% this year.

What can be seen from the vitality of enterprises is the beautiful prospect of a more prosperous regional economy. Chen Chao, Deputy Director of the International Department of the Ministry of Commerce, stated that the full implementation of RCEP will greatly promote the free flow of resources such as goods, services, capital, technology, talent, and data information within the region, and promote the gradual formation of a more prosperous regional integrated market. This is beneficial for China to promote institutional openness from a higher starting point, and also for local governments, industries, and enterprises to expand new space for international trade and economic cooperation

Gao Lingyun, a researcher at the Institute of World Economics and Politics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told reporters that as a milestone in regional economic integration, RCEP has created a huge market size. With the comprehensive implementation of RCEP, regional trade and investment connections will become closer, and enterprises and related industries will have a broader space for international trade development. On the one hand, tariff reductions can effectively reduce trade costs; on the other hand, through RCEP rules of origin accumulation and more flexible certification procedures, regional industrial chain supply chains can be consolidated and strengthened, leading to a more prosperous and high-quality development of regional economic integration