The RCEP is not as comprehensive as the comprehensive and progressive agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, another free trade agreement in the region that encompasses some of the same countries. [9] The RCEP “does not establish uniform employment and environmental standards or require countries to open services and other vulnerable areas of their economies.” [16] The effects of RCEP are impressive, even if the agreement is not as strict as the CPTPP. It stimulates supply chains throughout the region, as well as political sensitivities. Its intellectual property rules have little effect on what many members have, and the agreement says nothing at all about labour, the environment or state-owned enterprises – all key chapters of the CPTPP. However, ASEAN-focused trade agreements tend to improve over time. The RCEP is the first free trade agreement between China, Japan and South Korea, three of Asia`s four largest economies. [9] When it was signed, analysts predicted that it would help revive the economy in the midst of the COVID 19 pandemic, “bring the economic centre of gravity back to Asia” and accentuate the decline of the United States in economic and political affairs. [7] [10] [11] The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a free trade agreement between Asia-Pacific countries, Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. Starting in 2020, the 15 member countries represent about 30% of the world`s population (2.2 billion people) and 30% of global GDP ($26.2 trillion), making it the largest trading bloc in history.

[2] The unification of existing bilateral agreements between ASEAN and five of its major trading partners was signed on 15 November 2020 at a virtual ASEAN summit hosted by Vietnam and will enter into force as soon as it has been ratified by at least six ASEAN signatories and three non-ASEAN countries. [3] [5] The trade pact, which includes a mix of middle-income countries [Note 1] and low-income countries[Note 3], was developed at the ASEAN summit in Bali, Indonesia in 2011, when its negotiations were officially initiated in Cambodia at the 2012 ASEAN summit. [6] [7] It is expected that within 20 years of entry into force, approximately 90% of import duties between its signatories will be removed and common rules are established for e-commerce, trade and intellectual property. [9] Uniform rules of origin will help facilitate international supply chains and reduce export costs across the bloc. The RCEP will also accelerate the economic integration of Innordostasia. A Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman said last year that negotiations on the trilateral free trade agreement between China and South Korea and Japan, which have been stalled for many years, will begin “as soon as they are able to conclude the RCEP negotiations.” As I said, in a high-level speech in early November, President Xi Jinping promised to “accelerate negotiations on an investment agreement between China and the EU and a free trade agreement between China and Japan and the United States.” India and the United States were supposed to be members of the RCEP and CPTPP, but withdrew under the Modi and Trump administration. With the agreements now configured (see Figure 1), they strongly promote intra-Asian integration around China and Japan.