RCEP poised to boost trade, investment in Asia-Pacific
China DailyBy ZHAO RUINAN| China Daily| Updated :2021-11-24 The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership will facilitate trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region, boost post-pandemic economic recovery and set an example for regional and multilateral cooperation, analysts said. The trade deal, which is designed to remove tariffs on about 90 percent of goods, will facilitate trade and investment in the region, especially as it will follow the past two years, a time when the cross-border transit of people and goods has been disrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, said Song Qingrun, an associate professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University's School of Asian Studies. Jia Duqiang, an associate researcher at the National Institute of International Strategy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the RCEP will greatly enhance regional economic integration and promote social and cultural exchanges among the countries. The free trade deal is a product of globalization and regional integration, which is complementary to other regional trading blocs, such as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement and the European Union, the researcher said.