-
Important news
-
News
-
Shenzhen
-
China
-
World
-
Opinion
-
Sports
-
Kaleidoscope
-
Photos
-
Business
-
Markets
-
Business/Markets
-
World Economy
-
Speak Shenzhen
-
Leisure
-
Culture
-
Travel
-
Entertainment
-
Digital Paper
-
In-Depth
-
Weekend
-
Newsmaker
-
Lifestyle
-
Diversions
-
Movies
-
Hotels and Food
-
Special Report
-
Yes Teens!
-
News Picks
-
Tech and Science
-
Glamour
-
Campus
-
Budding Writers
-
Fun
-
Qianhai
-
Advertorial
-
CHTF Special
-
Futian Today
在线翻译:
szdaily -> News -> 
Asia forms the world’s biggest free trade bloc
    2020-11-16  08:53    Shenzhen Daily

THE Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement was signed among its 15 participating countries yesterday, launching the world’s biggest free trade bloc.


The 15 countries include the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.


The agreement “is an unprecedented mega regional trading arrangement that comprises a diverse mix of developed, developing and least developed economies of the region,” leaders of the participating countries said in a joint statement at the fourth RCEP summit earlier yesterday prior to the signing ceremony.


“It would cover a market of 2.2 billion people, or almost 30 percent of the world’s population, with a combined GDP of US$26.2 trillion or about 30 percent of global GDP, and accounts for nearly 28 percent of global trade [based on 2019 figures].”


The agreement is critical to the region’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and will play an important role in building the region’s resilience through inclusive and sustainable post-pandemic economic recovery process, said the leaders.


It “demonstrates our strong commitment to supporting economic recovery, inclusive development, job creation and strengthening regional supply chains as well as our support for an open, inclusive, rules-based trade and investment arrangement,” said the leaders.


The signing of the deal is “a victory of multilateralism and free trade,” Premier Li Keqiang said yesterday as he attended the fourth RCEP Summit in Beijing, held via video link.


“It is not only a landmark achievement of East Asian regional cooperation, but also a victory of multilateralism and free trade,” Li said.


The conclusion of the negotiations of the RCEP will “send a strong message of ASEAN’s leading role in supporting the multilateral trade system, helping to create a new trading structure in the region,” Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said at the summit.


The RCEP is “a hugely symbolically significant agreement, coming at a time of global trade uncertainty,” said Australian Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Simon Birmingham.


The signing of the RCEP deal came after more than 30 rounds of negotiations, which were launched in November 2012.


The signing ceremony took place during the ongoing 37th ASEAN Summit and related summits, from Thursday to yesterday via video conferences.


Founded in 1967, ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Vietnam is the ASEAN chair for 2020.(Xinhua)

深圳报业集团版权所有, 未经授权禁止复制; Copyright 2010-2020, All Rights Reserved.
Shenzhen Daily E-mail:szdaily@126.com