What is RCEP

THE RCEP, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, is a mega trade pact proposed by ASEAN to boost trade among its member states and with its free trade agreement (FTA) partners.

It includes the 10 ASEAN members, namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, and the bloc’s five FTA partners of Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea.

It aims to break down trade barriers and promote investment to help emerging economies catch up with the rest of the world.

How ‘big’ is it?

The 15 participating countries of the RCEP account for around 30 percent of the global population, global gross domestic product and 28 percent of global trade.

How many years does it take?

2012: Launched with the goal to deepen economic relationship among the 16 Asia-Pacific nations;

2015: Originally planned to be finished but repeatedly missed the deadline;

2016: Six rounds of talks held;

2017: The first RCEP summit was held in the Philippine capital Manila;

2018: The second RCEP summit was held in Singapore;

2019: Talks accelerated as 15 RCEP participating countries concluded text-based negotiations and all market access issues in Bangkok, Thailand;

2020: Signed! (Xinhua)