Coming to the New Year's Day holiday, Mai Zhiwei, manager of the logistics department of Guangdong Esquel Textile Co., Ltd., is still non-stop: "RCEP will take effect soon, we have long begun to do policy training and business docking, and now it is a sprint juncture." ”
On 1 January 2022, the highly anticipated Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) will enter into force between four non-ASEAN member countries of China, Japan, New Zealand and Australia and six ASEAN member states, including Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. As the world's largest trade "circle of friends", RCEP includes the above 10 countries and a total of 15 member countries in South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and the Philippines. Under the terms of the agreement, the RCEP will enter into force on January 1, 2022, for the 10 countries that have formally submitted their instruments of ratification. The final number of tariff-free products in trade in goods will exceed 90%, and the overall level of opening up of trade in services and investment will be significantly higher than that of the original China-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement.
All along, Guangdong and RCEP members have a solid foundation for economic and trade cooperation. According to customs statistics, in the first 11 months of 2021, the total import and export volume between Guangdong and RCEP countries was 2.1 trillion yuan, an increase of 13.9% year-on-year, accounting for 28.2% of the province's total foreign trade in the same period.
"With the effective implementation of RCEP, the textile and garment industry and light manufacturing industry in our province will face a new period of opportunities, the automobile and cross-border e-commerce industries will usher in a new round of benefits, iron ore, port shipping, logistics, machinery, textiles, furniture and other industries will continue to benefit, transportation and communications, agricultural products and other industries or attract more foreign investment." Analysis of the relevant person in charge of the Department of Commerce of Guangdong Province.
Lu Hongyan, deputy director of the Global Supply Chain Research Institute of the Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce, believes that this will bring three opportunities and two challenges for Guangdong: it is conducive to stabilizing trade growth, promoting two-way investment development and promoting the upgrading of the industrial chain to the high-end, and will also bring reform pressure and labor-intensive industrial transfer risks in terms of rule convergence.
Asia-Pacific "micro-multinational enterprises" ushered in a greater outlet
In the past year, the documents on the desk of Li Yan, vice president of Zhuozhi Group, have been changed wave after wave, and only the research documents of RCEP are resident, read from time to time, and the footer is micro-scrolled. "After the RCEP came into effect, the cost of circulation was reduced, the scope of trade was expanded, and the first beneficiaries were consumers. Among the imported goods we serve in Southeast Asia, Japan and South Korea, the sales of health care products, beauty products, and 3C products are relatively good. "Zhuozhi Group has been working in the field of foreign trade for 25 years and has trade with almost all RCEP members.
Cross-border e-commerce is regarded as the first industry to enjoy the dividends of the RCEP policy, and many links will benefit: reduce or even eliminate the risk of tariffs imposed on postal parcels, reduce the cost of raw materials and overseas logistics and warehousing, accelerate the internationalization of the RENMINBI and thus reduce the risk of corporate exchange.
For Guangdong, a major foreign trade province, cross-border e-commerce has become a new force for the growth of foreign trade. At present, 13 prefectures and cities in Guangdong have been approved to set up cross-border e-commerce comprehensive test zones. According to data from the Provincial Department of Commerce, Guangdong's cross-border e-commerce import and export volume ranked first in the country for seven consecutive years, and from 2016 to 2020, it increased from 22.796 billion yuan to 172.646 billion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of 65.9%.
Today, RCEP members with large populations, rapid economic growth and extensive Internet access have become the blue ocean of cross-border e-commerce enterprises in Guangdong.
Take Shopee, Southeast Asia's largest e-commerce platform, whose China cross-border business is headquartered in Shenzhen, which accurately connects the diversity of China's supply chain with Southeast Asia to meet the booming shopping needs of local consumers.
Li Yan hopes to ride on the "east wind" of RCEP and open up the foreign trade service chain between RCEP member countries in a digital way. "In the future, the competition between countries and enterprises is the service ability, who has higher service ability, who has the advantage of obtaining customers will be more obvious." Li Yan thinks.
Not only are the head e-commerce platforms chasing opportunities, but micro-cross-border e-commerce companies are also poised to develop.
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu recently released the 2021 "Technology Empowers Asia-Pacific Digital Trade" report, a survey of more than 600 cross-border e-commerce companies in Too Many Asian countries shows that 85% of cross-border e-commerce companies are small and micro enterprises with less than 100 people, and even one or two people can do business in more than 3 overseas markets.
With the help of RCEP policy dividends and digital technologies, they are trying a key leap and growing into "micro-multinational enterprises". "The next three years will still be a golden period for the development of digital trade. In Asia, it is gratifying that a large number of micro-multinational companies are rising rapidly, and they will do business in many overseas markets thousands of miles away, and will grow into the main force of global trade in the future. Deloitte China Vice Chairman Lin Guoen said.
With the entry into force of RCEP, these "micro-multinational enterprises" have ushered in a greater outlet.
"The outbreak and spread of the global epidemic has accelerated the development process of online, digital production and lifestyle, and created an opportunity for the joint construction of the RCEP digital trade integrated service system." Chai Yueting, a professor at Tsinghua University and director of the National Engineering Laboratory for E-commerce Transaction Technology, believes that Guangdong should seize the opportunity to vigorously invest in building a cross-border e-commerce platform.
Automobile, clothing and home appliances and other industries "grab the beach" in advance
After the RCEP comes into effect, the tariff on 57% of goods between China and Japan will be immediately reduced to zero, and then 88% of goods will be gradually achieved with zero tariffs. "This is a major opportunity for China's textile and apparel industry to be better than the GSP treatment." Exploring the Japanese market is Mak's primary goal.
For the first time, the two major trading powers, China and Japan, will reach a bilateral tariff concession arrangement, which is considered to be the largest incremental significance of the RCEP signing. "In more industrial fields, the import and export scale of Guangdong and Japan is expected to further expand." The relevant person in charge of the Department of Commerce of Guangdong Province said.
For example, transportation, machinery and electronics, and mineral products account for about 1/3 of Guangdong's exports to Japan. Five years before the agreement came into effect, Japan lowered tariffs on more than 95% of the above categories of goods to zero, and Guangdong enterprises can quickly obtain tariff reduction dividends.
In addition to exploring the Japanese market, Mak also has new development plans in Southeast Asia. At present, Esquel has factories in China and Vietnam. "After the RCEP comes into effect, our business in Vietnam will enjoy the import and export 'double dividend'." Mak said that not only can Esquel's raw materials exported to Vietnam from the Chinese factory enjoy zero tariffs, but also garments exported to China from the Vietnamese factory can also enjoy zero tariffs.
As Guangdong's largest trading partner, the cooperation between ASEAN and Guangdong's industrial chain and value chain continues to be refined, which will bring more trade opportunities and growth points.
Guangdong Xinbao Electric Appliances has long smelled new business opportunities and laid out the ASEAN market in advance. After visiting many countries in Southeast Asia, they finally chose to invest in Indonesia to set up factories to produce vacuum cleaners and air purifiers; found cooperative manufacturers in Malaysia to jointly produce vacuum cleaners, coffee machines, etc., and export related parts to these countries.
For the automotive industry, all 15 RCEP members have committed to lower tariffs, open markets and reduce standard barriers. "With the help of time and location, we are accelerating our development into the ASEAN market and have planned to set up a production base in ASEAN." The head of GAC's international business said that at present, the group is exploring joint investment and production with ASEAN manufacturing enterprises to promote the development of the local automobile industry. For example, in Myanmar, GAC's partners are building KD plants; in Malaysia, the right-hand drive version of the GS3 has officially launched, opening a new journey for the overseas right-hand drive market.
In the view of the head of GAC's international business, the effectiveness of RCEP will promote the international layout of Chinese car brand brands, promote the growth of export business, promote the circulation of regional parts, and enhance the dependence of the automotive industry chain in the RCEP region.
More fierce competition is expected to forge a stronger regional industrial chain
With the official opening of the China-Laos Railway on December 3, the logistics channel between RCEP member countries ushered in, which made Li Xuefeng, vice president of Jingxin Communications, very excited. As early as 2016, Jingxin Communications acquired and controlled the Lao ETL Telecom Company, acquiring a 51% stake in the ETL Company, becoming the only Chinese-controlled telecom operator in Laos so far.
Today, Jingxin Communications has set up branches or sales platforms in many RCEP member countries, and the annual sales of equipment reach 250 million yuan. "It is expected that through the ETL project, we will strengthen cooperation with RCEP countries in transportation infrastructure, oil and gas pipelines, communication facilities and other fields, promote access, navigation, commerce and communications, drive capital, technology and infrastructure to go out, and enhance the development level of neighboring regions." Li Xuefeng said.
But opportunities and challenges coexist. "A more open market, the competition in the same industry will be more intense." Li Xuefeng said that the company has long been prepared for this, "in the future, we will focus on technological innovation, differentiated value, product quality, delivery efficiency, environmental protection and energy saving, etc., and continue to promote the construction and development of 5G."
The automotive industry will also face greater challenges. For example, 11 years after the agreement came into force, China's tariffs on Japanese cars and their spare parts, televisions and their parts will be gradually reduced to zero. Japan in the automobile and television industry manufacturing technology in the world leading, the future with the sharp decline in tariffs, Japanese production of cars and televisions and their spare parts will be a large number of into China, or the Guangdong automobile industry will form a certain impact.
"In the future market expansion process, we will make efforts to shape the brand, continue to increase investment in research and development, and strengthen core competitiveness." The head of GAC's international business said that it will invest in production in cooperation with local manufacturing companies to develop more categories of right-hand drive car products to meet the diversified needs of the market.
How to transform the policy benefits of RCEP into a long-term stable competitive advantage of the enterprise is the most discussed problem between Chen Dongfu, manager of The Overseas Business Department of Guanghua Technology, and the team.
"Products that were not very competitive in price due to tariffs have now been given the opportunity to restart cooperation." However, in Chen Dongfu's view, RCEP not only means preferential tariffs, but also seizes the opportunity to optimize the industrial chain, consolidate the supply chain, and seek new opportunities for technological innovation and cooperation. "We must continue to increase our research and development strength and upgrade new products and processes so that we will not be left behind in the competition."
Bai Ming, deputy director of the International Market Research Institute of the Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce, said that RCEP has promoted the free flow of factors, products, services and funds in the region, and there is a possibility of in-depth adjustment of the supply chain in the Asia-Pacific region, and Guangdong should build core competitiveness and enhance its position in the industrial chain through its own industrial upgrading, by improving quality, service, brand and technology.
Lu Hongyan suggested that Guangdong should innovate and develop new formats and models of foreign trade, strengthen the construction of international brands and marketing channels, and improve the quality and level of cross-border e-commerce cooperation; strengthen international cooperation in the regional industrial chain and supply chain, give full play to the advantages of smart home appliances, electronic information, automobiles, light industry textiles and other industries, strengthen the division of labor and cooperation with the industrial chain of ASEAN countries, and promote the industry to climb to the high-end link of the value chain; attract Japanese and Korean enterprises to invest in Guangdong's high-end manufacturing, service industry and other fields, and improve the level of trade and investment cooperation.
Reporters observe
Higher opening up brings more new economic impetus
As the global economic center of gravity shifts to the Asia-Pacific region, especially East Asia, the impetus for a new round of globalization is also shifting eastward, and the upcoming RCEP is the most prominent embodiment. It will greatly optimize the overall business environment in the region, significantly reduce the institutional cost of enterprises to use the FTA, and further enhance the trade creation effect brought about by the FTA.
Guangdong, which is known for its openness, will undoubtedly also gain greater development opportunities for "near-water buildings" and promote in-depth cooperation with relevant countries in trade, investment, industrial chain and other aspects.
For countries themselves, RCEP is not only an opportunity for economic development, but also provides new impetus for optimizing and improving investment, trade and other related systems.
"In the era of globalization, promoting internal reform with external openness is a major trend, and this will not change." A few days ago, Zheng Yongnian, dean of the Institute for Advanced Study of Global and Contemporary China at the University of Chinese in Hong Kong, Shenzhen, told reporters, "The effectiveness of the RCEP will not only bring trade facilitation, but also promote the coordinated development of the industrial chain and supply chain in the region." ”
The World Trade Organization report shows that the imbalance in the global economy has intensified in recent years. After the full implementation of the RCEP, it will not only drive nearly one-third of the world's economies to form a unified super-large-scale market, but also promote the establishment of a new pattern of open regional economic integration and development by increasing economic and technical assistance to developing economies and least developed economies. This is undoubtedly of great significance to both global trade and economic development.
Especially under the global epidemic situation, the anti-globalization wave continues to emerge, and some regions are even in the context of sword tension, RCEP has demonstrated the strength and confidence of openness, created a new sample for regional economic integration, and injected new great vitality into globalization.
[Reporter] Chang Daoli, Chen Xiao, Wang Biao
【Author】 Chang Daoli; Chen Xiao; Wang Biao
Walk-through double loop
Source: South+ - Create more value