General

At the beginning of this year, RCEP came into force. At present, among the 15 signatory member states, the number of effective member states has reached 13. As a free trade agreement with the largest population, the largest economic and trade scale, and the most potential for development in the world, RCEP has brought huge trade potential to member countries.

Not long ago, the Commercial Industry Committee of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and XTransfer, a one-stop cross-border financial and risk control service company for international trading companies, officially released the "Regional Active Index of China's Small, Medium and Micro Foreign Trade Enterprises Exporting RCEP from January to August 2022" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report") ). The "Report" focuses on the export development situation of China's small, medium and micro foreign trade enterprises since RCEP took effect.

"RCEP not only brings tangible dividends to the vast number of international trade import and export enterprises and consumers, but also helps countries in the region enhance their comprehensive trade competitiveness and strengthen win-win cooperation." The "Report" stated.

The trade promotion effect of RCEP on small, medium and micro enterprises is emerging

Less than a year after it came into effect, the "circle of friends" of RCEP member states has continued to expand, and "win-win" has become the key word. The reduction in tariffs on goods has further stimulated trade flows among member countries in the region. On the effective day, the ratio of immediate zero tariffs between China and ASEAN, Australia and New Zealand exceeded 65%, the ratios of immediate zero tariffs with South Korea reached 39% and 50% respectively, and the ratios of immediate zero tariffs with Japan reached 25% and 57% respectively .

With the continuous release of RCEP policy dividends, the regional activity index of China's small, medium and micro international trade enterprises exporting to RCEP is full of resilience. The "Report" shows that from January to August 2022, China's small, medium and micro foreign trade enterprises have achieved positive growth in the amount of payments received from all trading partners in the RCEP region.

According to the analysis of the "Report", from January to March, affected by the "Spring Festival effect", the RCEP regional activity index dropped slightly; from March to May, affected by the traditional festivals of important export destination countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia, the RCEP region was active The index showed a downward trend and fell back to the lowest value in May; after May, thanks to the effective control of the new crown pneumonia epidemic in China and the recovery of demand in countries in the RCEP region, the RCEP regional activity index rose steadily after a short-term recovery .

It is worth mentioning that from January to August 2022, the number of Chinese small, medium and micro international trade enterprises exporting to countries in the RCEP region increased by 36.4% year-on-year. During the same period, the proportion of small, medium and micro foreign trade enterprises exporting to RCEP regions increased by 2.79%.

"In the context of the complex and severe international situation, the trade promotion effect of RCEP on China's small, medium and micro foreign trade enterprises is rapidly emerging." The "Report" stated.

The export level of small, medium and micro enterprises to Japan and South Korea exceeds 30%

From the perspective of export destinations, the top three destination countries for the collection volume of Chinese small, medium and micro foreign trade enterprises exporting to the RCEP region are: South Korea, Japan, and Singapore; the top three destination countries for the growth rate of collection volume are: Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia.

The "Report" shows that the collection volume of China's small, medium and micro international trade enterprises exporting to South Korea and Japan is at a high level, accounting for about 32.1% of the total collection volume in the RCEP region.

"The official entry into force of RCEP is the first free trade relationship established between China and Japan. Japan implements zero tariffs on 88% of China's goods. This is also the first time that China, Japan and South Korea have reached a common free trade agreement, which will help Northeast Asia's economic and trade integration. transformation," said the report.

Compared with other RCEP member countries, the proportion of China's small, medium and micro foreign trade enterprises exporting to Vietnam has slightly decreased. According to the analysis of the "Report", the possible reason is that Vietnam and China have a certain degree of competition in the international market in machinery and textile industries, and their dependence on China's supply chain has weakened. Considering that Vietnam’s preferential tariffs for these two types of products from China are not in place at one time, the promotion effect of the RCEP policy is relatively small.

In terms of export regions, the top three provinces (municipalities) in terms of collection volume of China's small, medium and micro foreign trade enterprises exporting to RCEP regions are Guangdong, Shanghai, and Zhejiang.

The top three export destinations of small, medium and micro foreign trade enterprises in Guangdong to the RCEP region are South Korea, Japan, and Singapore. Among them, Singapore has a strong demand for commodities with high added value such as electronics and machinery, which mainly meet the needs of its manufacturing and construction industries.

The top three export destinations of Shanghai's small, medium and micro foreign trade enterprises in terms of collection volume to the RCEP area are: Indonesia, South Korea, and Japan. Among them, due to its own technology, infrastructure and other factors, Indonesia's manufacturing industry is more dependent on China's raw materials and machinery and other supporting industries to complete production.

The top three export destinations of small, medium and micro foreign trade enterprises in Zhejiang to the RCEP area are: Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines. Among them, the Philippines, as a country with a relatively large import volume and year-on-year growth rate of complete automobiles in the RCEP region to China, has further boosted its trade demand for mechanical commodities such as transportation equipment accessories.

Digitization has become the cornerstone of "one step ahead" for small, medium and micro enterprises

The steady growth of foreign trade and the continued diversification of the trade "circle of friends" are important reasons. The "Report" shows that from January to August 2022, the international trade exports of China's small, medium and micro foreign trade enterprises to all trading partners in the RCEP region have achieved growth, which not only reflects China's foreign trade resilience, but also brings greater development space for the future.

At present, digitalization has greatly lowered the threshold for all kinds of enterprises to participate in international trade, and small, medium and micro foreign trade enterprises have greater flexibility to obtain international cooperation opportunities through digital transformation. Taking cross-border e-commerce as an example, the "Report" pointed out that the characteristics of online, small batch, and high frequency are becoming the cornerstone of small, medium and micro foreign trade enterprises "one step ahead".

"With the deepening of RCEP cooperation and the implementation of policies, the national industrial and supply chains in the region will achieve further complementary advantages and deep integration. For small, medium and micro foreign trade enterprises, this will be a new opportunity to better explore the international market and deepen international cooperation. At the same time, we must also be clearly aware that there are still many small, medium and micro foreign trade enterprises that are relatively unfamiliar with RCEP, and need to spend time, find ways, and learn more to be familiar with and make good use of the free trade agreement, so as to better enjoy the dividends of regional opening up." "Report "say.

Since RCEP came into force, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade has cooperated with relevant departments to carry out special research on RCEP, and actively organized a number of RCEP interpretation and application sharing sessions, and cooperated with local trade promotion agencies to help enterprises learn and grasp RCEP rules and seize new opportunities for development. Effectively serve foreign trade enterprises.

The Nanning Initiative calls on small and medium-sized enterprises to enhance their ability to use RCEP

Recently, the 2nd RCEP Economic and Trade Cooperation Business Summit Forum and High-Quality Implementation RCEP Forum (hereinafter referred to as the forum) hosted by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade was held. Gao Yunlong, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, said at the forum that the current international landscape is evolving rapidly, and a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation is developing rapidly. China firmly advocates building an open world economy and resolutely safeguards the multilateral trading system.

Gao Yunlong pointed out that industrial and commercial enterprises are an important force in the practice of RCEP. They should seize the opportunities brought about by the implementation of RCEP, fully understand and make good use of preferential policies such as lower tariffs by member states, accumulation rules of origin in the region, and actively explore the international market and expand their advantages. Product export and high-quality commodity import; actively adapt to the more open environment and fuller competition in the regional market, accelerate industrial transformation and upgrading, and enhance the ability to participate in regional market competition; strengthen communication with relevant government departments, and actively reflect the implementation of the agreement. Practical problems encountered and put forward opinions and suggestions to promote further cooperation among the governments of member states and continuously optimize the business environment.

"I hope that the business circles of all countries will strengthen solidarity and cooperation, and jointly contribute to promoting the high-quality implementation of RCEP, promoting economic recovery, and building a closer community of shared future." Gao Yunlong said.

Zhang Shaogang, vice chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, said at the forum that the important role of RCEP in regional economic cooperation should be further played, the high-quality implementation of RCEP should be promoted, the policies and rules of RCEP should be fully utilized, and the stability of the regional industrial chain and supply chain should be maintained.

"The China Council for the Promotion of International Trade will keep an eye on the needs and expectations of market players, continue to improve RCEP promotion and implementation services, help enterprises make good use of RCEP rules, seize market opportunities, investment opportunities, and growth opportunities, and better integrate into the regional market." Zhang Shaogang said .

At the forum site, 40 business associations from RCEP member countries jointly launched the "Nanning Initiative on High-Quality Implementation of RCEP by Business and Industry to Promote Higher Level Regional Economic Integration". It is reported that the initiative will give full play to the positive role of the business community in the implementation of RCEP, promote the accelerated release of RCEP dividends, and better benefit the people of the region. The initiative expects that RCEP member states will attach importance to the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, actively guide small, medium and micro enterprises to seize RCEP opportunities to expand overseas markets, help enterprises understand the needs of different markets in the region, investment-related laws and rules through training and presentations, and encourage enterprises to expand Economic and trade cooperation and high-quality implementation of RCEP are fully integrated into the international business strategy of enterprises, helping enterprises, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, to comprehensively improve the ability to use RCEP to expand the international trade market.