At the 37th summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) held via video link on November 12-15, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement was signed, launching the world’s biggest free trade bloc. The China Daily reports this from the Vietnamese capital, which holds the ASEAN chair for 2020.
The signing of the Agreement came after more than 30 rounds of negotiation, which was launched in November 2012, as well as a number of specific leaders and ministerial meetings between the participating countries.
Their successful outcome is the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership that is “a victory of multilateralism and free trade,” Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said.
The RCEP agreement will accelerate the building of the ASEAN economic community and thereby allow ASEAN to become dynamic and strong partners in promoting cooperation for shared prosperity, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said at the signing ceremony held via video conference.
Considering that the 15 participating countries of the RCEP account for around 30 percent of the global population, global gross domestic product and global trade, it is not only “a landmark achievement of East Asian regional cooperation”, the China daily reports citing Chinese Premier.
The creation of the largest free trade zone in the most dynamically developing region of the world will contribute to the further bolster the post-pandemic recovery of the global economy.
Founded in 1967, ASEAN groups 10 countries Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Along with them, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand also signed the RCEP Agreement.
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