In the face of profound and complex changes in the global economic and political landscape, building a transparent, shared and predictable RCEP requires active promotion at the government level, as well as proactive measures at the information, industry and local levels。Chi Fulin, president of the China (Hainan) Institute of Reform and Development, recently put forward the following eight suggestions on pragmatic promotion of the RCEP process at the seminar on "New Globalization, RCEP and the Future of Chinese Cities"。
Shorten the transition period and push for the implementation of RCEP tariff reduction commitments as soon as possible。Recommendations based on existing commitments，Jointly negotiate to shorten the "zero tariff" transition period for important raw materials and key parts as much as possible，Ensure the stability and security of industrial and supply chains in the region;Make China a big market for imports，Create conditions to realize the full implementation of tariff concessions commitments as soon as possible，Make the Chinese market a big market for RCEP to share;We will promote the transition from "country-specific tariff concessions" to "unified tariff concessions" for China, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Indonesia，We will promote the establishment of a unified regional market。
We will promote the transformation of the RCEP cumulative rules of origin into full cumulative rules。Cumulative rules of origin is a major achievement of RCEP, and from the perspective of practice, the dividends of cumulative rules of origin are still to be released。In 2022, exports by Chinese companies using the RCEP rules of origin accounted for only 3 percent of their total exports to other RCEP member countries.56%。It is suggested that the transition from "accumulation of origin" to "full accumulation", which includes the value-added part of processing of non-origin goods in the scope of accumulation, should be promoted as soon as possible，As the subject of follow-up consultations on RCEP cumulative rules，Significantly improve the convenience of enterprises to use the rules;We will promote the review of RCEP enterprises' independent declaration of origin，That is, the declaration of origin documents issued by traders in RCEP member countries are allowed to have the same effect as the certificate of origin documents issued by the visa agency。
We will promote the implementation of negative list management for trade in services。In order to fully release the huge development space of service trade in the region，It is proposed to formulate and implement a national negative list for cross-border trade in services，And implement ahead of time, including professional services, computer services and other fields to open up the commitment;Use service trade fair, import fair, consumer fair and other platforms，Proactively expand imports of quality services from other RCEP member states with an ASEAN focus;Accelerate the China-Asean Free Trade Area with a focus on trade in services3.The 0 version of the negotiation aims to form a free and convenient institutional arrangement for cross-border service trade between China and ASEAN that is higher than RCEP;We will make use of the free and convenient institutional arrangements for trade in services formed for the first time between China and Japan to promote important breakthroughs in the development of bilateral productive trade in services。
Adapt to the development of RCEP trade and improve the consistency of domestic and international standards。In reality, technical barriers to trade caused by differences in standards have become an important factor restricting the release of the potential of RCEP economic and trade cooperation。It is suggested to develop a catalogue of differentiated liability exemptions for goods and services standards for ASEAN，Industry and business in the directory，Foreign enterprises are allowed to choose Chinese standards or local standards，Minimizing trade costs arising from differences in standards;We will carry out bilateral and multilateral negotiations on the mutual recognition of RCEP standards in the region，Establish a green channel for domestic application of international standards，Promote the application of more internationally accepted standards in China;Support relevant think tanks and research institutions to conduct research on technical barriers to trade，Timely summary and release of RCEP member countries' conformity assessment market access system and related adjustment information。
We will set up cooperation demonstration zones and encourage local governments to implement RCEP in high quality。We will support local governments in carrying out pilot and cooperative exploration with standards higher than the existing RCEP rules, so as to set a leading example of high-quality RCEP implementation in China。It is suggested to support the Hainan Free Trade Port while making full use of the overlapping effect of RCEP rules such as rules of origin and opening up of trade in services，Conduct high-level open stress tests on the CPTPP，To lead the RCEP upgrade and expansion exploration path;Support domestic pilot free trade zones to take the lead in fully implementing RCEP rules to achieve strategic upgrading，And give it greater autonomy in reform and opening up，The focus is on provisions in RCEP that express relative principles and have greater government discretion，Carry out institutional innovation;We will support Guangdong, Guangxi and other places that have close economic and trade ties with ASEAN countries in building regional markets with their own characteristics and targeting different member states，And create a competitive industrial cluster for RCEP。
We will implement a number of special actions to encourage enterprises to deeply participate in RCEP cooperation。It is suggested to carry out the enterprise "going out" action，Support enterprises to make use of RCEP rules to invest in agriculture, digital economy, energy industry and other fields in ASEAN countries;We will carry out actions to optimize and adjust industrial and supply chains，Support enterprises to improve the security of industrial chain and supply chain，Make full use of the RCEP cumulative rules of origin to carry out industrial chain and supply chain layout，Cultivate and build a multi-supply network;We will transform and upgrade the manufacturing industry，Enterprises are encouraged to actively utilize the advanced technologies of other RCEP member countries，We will strengthen support in resources, technology and equipment，Promoting the transformation and upgrading of traditional manufacturing;We will implement actions to optimize and adjust trade among enterprises，Assist enterprises to explore the RCEP export market with a focus on ASEAN，Promote the further concentration of export markets in the RCEP region。
We will strengthen supporting services for enterprises by focusing on RCEP capacity building。Improve the utilization of RCEP rules by enterprises，It is suggested that an RCEP capacity building center for government officials and entrepreneurs of ASEAN countries be established in the Hainan Free Trade Port，Conduct special training on the application of RCEP rules and publicize typical cases;At the government level, special assistance projects will be set up for less developed RCEP countries，Professional education and training assistance for small and medium-sized enterprises in digital skills, professional services, science and technology, public health, talent development and other fields;Formulate the Guidelines on Compliance Management of Enterprises' Outbound Investment and Overseas Operations，And form a regular update mechanism，We will focus on establishing basic compliance standards for local laws and regulations on safety review, industry supervision, foreign exchange management, labor management, and environmental protection。
We will actively participate in the building of the RCEP governance mechanism and organizational system。On the premise of respecting ASEAN centrality, we will actively participate in the building of the RCEP governance mechanism and organizational system。The RCEP Secretariat can be established through consultation and cooperation with ASEAN.Actively participate in the establishment of four professional committees to be set up under the RCEP Joint Committee: Goods Committee, Service and Investment Committee, Sustainable Development Committee, and Business Environment Committee，And actively participate in the competition for important positions;We will accelerate Hong Kong's accession to RCEP，And relying on the mainland's existing economic and trade cooperation network to attract relevant countries in and outside the region to join the RCEP;We have taken the initiative to build public service platforms such as the RCEP dispute settlement electronic service platform，Support smes in the region to conduct dispute resolution at a lower cost。
(Source: International Business Daily)