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It is a new heavyweight in the global economy that is emerging. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) entered into force on January 1, 2022. It should give birth to the largest free trade area in the world.
This new group, which includes China, Japan, Australia and South Korea and the ten ASEAN countries, already alone represents a third of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the planet and a third of the world population.
According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), this RCEP will be the “ new center of gravity Of world trade when it is operating at full capacity. By its size, it will be the ” largest economic bloc in the world ».
Customs duties will be removed on 90% of goods traded between signatory countries for the next twenty years. The agreement also provides common rules for trade in goods and services, intellectual property, electronic commerce and competition. On the other hand, the text does not include any binding rule or any clause on the environment, the labor market, intellectual property or even public subsidies.
It was in 2011 that negotiations to bring this alliance to the baptismal font began. The treaty was signed in November 2020 during the virtual summit of ASEAN by its first partners and on November 3, 2021, Australia and New Zealand ratified it. India, which has expressed interest, has nevertheless decided to reserve its signature for fear of seeing cheap Chinese products invade its market.
TODAY: Leaders from 15 RCEP Participating Countries will witness the signing of the biggest Regional Trade Agreement, which is also an ASEAN-led mechanism. Learn more about #RCEP, its objectives, coverage areas and how RCEP contribute to regional economic integration:#ASEAN pic.twitter.com/gZrViNNvaW
– ASEAN (@ASEAN) November 15, 2020
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China on the move
China has accelerated negotiations for the conclusion of this treaty in recent years to fill the void left by the abandonment of a competing project, the Trans-Pacific Free Trade Treaty (TPP), by the United States in 2017 under the presidency of Donald Trump.
► Read also : RCEP Free Trade Partnership: Beijing’s offensive to ASEAN
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