Wuxi Customs issues the city's first RCEP certificate of origin on Jan 1. [Photo/wxrb.com]
Wuxi Customs issued the city's first Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership certificate of origin for a metal product company on Jan 1, the day the largest free trade agreement in the world comes into effect.
The RCEP, signed by 15 Asia-Pacific countries and covering roughly 30 percent of the world's gross domestic product, trade and population, will offer a strong boost to international trade and investment and contribute to the global economic recovery.
According to the agreement, the RCEP covers a wide range of areas, including tariff reduction, trade facilitation and the opening-up of services and investment. Over 90 percent of trade in goods among approved member states will be tariff-free, and all member states will significantly reduce restrictions on economic and trade cooperation, facilitate the flow of goods and factors of production, and increase production efficiency.
Zhou Ping, a worker at the local metal product company, applied for the certificate for the company's to-be-exported steel fixing clips for construction in Japan. Zhou said that "with the implementation of the RCEP, the goods we export in the next 10 years will eventually enjoy zero tariffs."
Statistics show that from January to November 2021, the total value of imports and exports from RCEP member countries in Wuxi accounted for more than 40 percent of the city's total foreign trade. In terms of exports of semiconductor manufacturing equipment and integrated circuits, the value of goods exported to Japan accounted for 58.3 percent and 66.8 percent, respectively.
In the first 11 months of 2021, total foreign trade between Wuxi and Japan was valued at 67.02 billion yuan ($10.53 billion), accounting for 10.9 percent of the city's total.
Officials have said that the RCEP will greatly enhance East Asia's regional economic integration and significantly improve the overall business environment of the region.
