RCEP starts golden era for SMEs in Zhejiang province

Deng Chaofeng, general manager of Zhejiang International Trade Supply Chain Service Co Ltd, a local supply chain services provider, said he believes that the RCEP agreement will bring multiple benefits to the majority of local companies. For example, the six-hour clearance policy greatly improves the efficiency of Customs and helps companies seize market opportunities. Tariff reductions and exemptions can also save a lot for companies.

Aiming at the auto and motorcycle parts market, the company in 2018 built its auto and motorcycle accessories e-commerce platform, called Tokoonderdil, in Indonesia.

"We plan to upgrade the Tokoonderdil platform in the future so that it can gradually be expanded to more overseas markets," Deng said.

Ding Shufeng, dean of the Zhejiang Academy of Commerce, said the RCEP agreement will facilitate the restructuring of industrial chains of countries in the Asia-Pacific region, especially the industrial chains of China, Japan and South Korea.

For consumers in China, Deng also added that not only high-quality and cheap commodities will be available, but also more employment opportunities can be generated.

As one of the major foreign trade powerhouses, Zhejiang took the lead in releasing an action plan to seize the opportunities brought by the RCEP agreement earlier this year.

According to the plan, by 2024, trade between Zhejiang and other RCEP countries will reach 28 percent of the total foreign trade volume in Zhejiang, with investment from Zhejiang enterprises in other RCEP countries topping $10 billion.

Zhejiang has had a stable economic relationship with other RCEP member countries. Statistics show that from January to November 2021, total trade value between the province and other RCEP member countries grew 19.4 percent year-on-year to 948.61 billion yuan, accounting for 25.2 percent of Zhejiang's total foreign trade value.

Zhejiang's exports to other RCEP member countries are mainly electromechanical, labor-intensive products and high-tech goods, while its imports from related countries are mainly resource products.

In addition to lowering tariffs, the RCEP agreement also covers more than 100 subsectors of international trade in services, including finance, telecommunications, transportation, tourism and research and development. The opening-up of international trade in services in the region is expected to become more stable.

"For the ASEAN market, Zhejiang has advantages in cross-border services such as information transmission and software and information technology, and the implementation of the RCEP agreement will further help Zhejiang's enterprises go abroad," said Zhuang Jin, an official from the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Commerce.

The RCEP agreement, which took effect at the beginning of the year, is a landmark achievement of regional cooperation and will give a strong boost to global economic recovery.

As an unparalleled, large-scale regional trade arrangement, it conforms to the interests of the 15 signatory countries, reflects their common desire to bolster economic cooperation, and demonstrates the global trend of multilateral cooperation and free trade, experts said.

Accounting for roughly 30 percent of the world's population, GDP and trade, RCEP creates the world's largest free trade bloc by economic size, making it the biggest driver of global growth.

Zhang Xiang and Fang Xiaoying contributed to this story.