The prefecture-level city of Zibo – located in East China's Shandong province – recently witnessed the trade dividends stemming from the coming into force of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RECP, at the start of the year.
RECP, one of the biggest trading blocs in the world, was signed in November 2020 by 15 member countries including China. With the agreement now taking effect, the tariffs on goods trade in the bloc will be reduced to zero immediately or gradually, with more than 90 percent of the goods in the bloc eventually having zero tariffs.
In January, Zibo Customs issued 227 RCEP certificates of origin for 77 export enterprises under its jurisdiction, covering goods worth $9.45 million. These obtained import and export tariff reductions topping $300,000.
The goods mainly involved chemicals, textiles, plastic, glass and other products, according to an official at Zibo Customs.
Industry insiders pointed out that the tariffs reduction provisions in the wake of the RCEP agreement benefit exports from Zibo's traditional industries, especially for the Japanese market.
The tariff on straw woven products and some chemicals exported to Japan, for example, was reduced to zero immediately after the agreement came into effect.
Meanwhile, the tariff on textiles will be reduced by 0.5-0.7 percent in the first year, on plastics by 0.4 percent and on chemicals by 0.3 percent. It is understood that most of those tariffs on products not immediately reduced to zero will be reduced to zero over 10 years.
A woman gets a RECP certificate of origin from Zibo Customs. [Photo/zbnews.net]
