Aerial photo taken on July 30, 2020 shows a view of the Qinzhou terminal of the Beibu Gulf Port in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (Photo by Xu Zhiyan/Xinhua)
BEIJING, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese government authorities have recently sped up layouts in promoting the implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), reported Economic Information Daily Tuesday.
The Ministry of Commerce (MOC) recently organized an online special training course on RCEP, aiming at familiarizing local governments, industry intermediary organizations and enterprises with related provisions to expand cooperation amid market competitions.
During the course, relevant experts from MOC and the General Administration of Customs (GAC) systematically explained the main contents of RCEP, such as trade in goods, rules of origin, customs procedures and trade facilitation, trade in services, investment and rules.
Zong Changqing, director of the Department of Foreign Investment Administration with MOC, stated at a press conference that MOC will push for the implementation of RCEP and the China-EU investment agreement in 2021, so as to promote more liberalized and facilitated international trade and investment.
It's learned that related preparations are proceeding steadily.
A GAC work conference held recently also put RCEP-related preparatory work on its important task list for 2021, clarifying to take deep part in multilateral, bilateral and regional cooperation and the formulation of related rules and standards, and finish related implementation preparations for RCEP.
A State Council executive meeting held February 3 stressed to strengthen training on RCEP implementation, and help enterprises, especially micro- and small-sized ones, to master the provisions and the tariff concession by participating countries, as well as the application procedures and documentation required for the certificate of origin.
It points out that up to now, legal review of the provisions, and formulation of the conversion plan for the tariff concession commitment schedule on trade in goods, have been completed.
Besides, substantive progress has been achieved in the technical preparations for implementing the cumulation provisions of the rules of origin, and 85 percent of the 701 binding obligations stipulated in the agreement are ready to be enforced.
The implementation of RCEP may become a experimental field and a template for China to initiate major changes in international economic and trade, and meanwhile promote the recovery of the global economy, said Peng Bo, an associate research fellow with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation (CAITEC).
With the official launch of the RCEP, China will gradually move up the industry chain and take advantage of its huge consumer market to drive the development of all participants, Peng noted.
(Edited by Gu Shanshan with Xinhua Silk Road, gushanshan.1987@163.com)
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