Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership

The agreement is intended to reduce tariffs and red tape. It includes unified rules of origin throughout the bloc, which may facilitate international supply chains and trade within the region.[18][19] It also prohibits certain tariffs. It does not focus on labor unions, environmental protection, or government subsidies.[18]

The RCEP is not as comprehensive as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, another free trade agreement in the region that includes some of the same countries.[10] The RCEP "does not establish unified standards on labour and the environment, or commit countries to open services and other vulnerable areas of their economies."[20]

The tariffs schedule just for Japan is 1,334 pages long.[20]

Members of the RCEP make up nearly a third of the world's population and account for almost 30% of global gross domestic product. The new free trade bloc will be bigger than both the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement and the European Union.[21] The combined GDP of potential RCEP members surpassed the combined GDP of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) members in 2007. It was suggested that continued economic growth, particularly in China and Indonesia, could see total GDP in the original RCEP membership grow to over US$100 trillion by 2050, roughly double the project size of TPP economies.[22] On 23 January 2017, President Donald Trump signed a memorandum withdrawing the United States from the TPP, a move which was seen to improve the chances of success for RCEP.[23]

According to a 2020 projection, the agreement is expected to enlarge the global economy by US$186 billion.[8][19]

2011

• August 2011, East Asia Summit Economic Ministers welcomed a Chinese and Japanese joint 'Initiative on Speeding up the Establishment of EAFTA and CEPEA'.[24]
• During the 19th ASEAN Summit held 14–19 November 2011 in Bali, Indonesia, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) was introduced.[25]

2012

• The 44th ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM) Meeting and Related Meetings were held in Siem Reap, Cambodia, 25 August – 1 September 2012.[26]
• Leaders at the 21st ASEAN Summit held 18–20 November 2012 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia endorsed the framework of RCEP and announced the launch of their negotiations.[27]

2013

• The first round of RCEP negotiation was held on 9–13 May 2013 in Brunei.[17]
• The second round of RCEP negotiation was held on 23–27 September 2013 in Brisbane, Australia.[28]

2014

• The third round of RCEP negotiation was held on 20–24 January 2014 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[29]
• The fourth round of RCEP negotiation was held on 31 March – 4 April 2014 in Nanning, China.[30]
• The fifth round of RCEP negotiation was held on 21–27 June 2014 in Singapore.[31]
• The sixth round of RCEP negotiation and related meetings was held on 1–5 December 2014 in New Delhi, India.[32]

2015

• The seventh round of RCEP negotiation was held on 9–13 February 2015 in Bangkok, Thailand. An expert group on electronic commerce met during this round. The Asian Trade Centre (based in Singapore) submitted a proposal regarding an e-Commerce chapter and gave a presentation on the paper.[33]
• The eighth round of RCEP negotiation was held on 5–13 June 2015 in Kyoto, Japan.[34]
• The ninth round of RCEP negotiation was held on 3–7 August 2015 in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar.[35]
• The tenth round of RCEP negotiation was held on 12–16 October 2015 in Busan, South Korea. The meetings took place at BEXCO (Busan's Convention and Exhibition Centre). This round included the first region wide stakeholder meeting (organized by the Singapore-based Asian Trade Centre) which involved an informal meeting between government officials and business representatives over lunch followed by an afternoon seminar focused on what RCEP can do to help business operate in the e-Commerce space.[36]

2016

• The eleventh round of RCEP negotiation was held on 14–19 February 2016 in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei.[37]
• The twelfth round of negotiation of RCEP was held on 17–29 April 2016 in Perth, Australia.[38]
• The thirteenth round of RCEP negotiation was held on 12–18 June 2016 in Auckland, New Zealand.[39]
• The fourteenth round of RCEP negotiation was held on 15–18 August 2016 in Vietnam.[40]
• The fifteenth round of RCEP negotiation was held on 11–22 October 2016 in Tianjin, China.[41]
• The sixteenth round of negotiations of RCEP was held on 6–10 December 2016 in Tangerang, Indonesia.[42]

2017

• The seventeenth round of negotiations of RCEP was held on 27 February – 3 March 2017 in Kobe, Japan.[43]
• The eighteenth round of RCEP negotiation was held on 8–12 May 2017 in Manila, Philippines.[44]
• The nineteenth round of RCEP negotiation was held on 24–28 July 2017 in Hyderabad, India.[45]
• The twentieth round of RCEP negotiation was held on 17–28 October 2017 in Incheon, Korea.[46]
• The first RCEP summit was held on 14 November 2017 in Manila, Philippines.[47][48]

2018

• The twenty-first round of RCEP negotiation was held on 2–9 February 2018 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.[49]
• The twenty-second round of RCEP negotiation was held on 28 April – 8 May 2018 in Singapore.[50]
• The twenty-third round of RCEP negotiation was held on 17–27 July 2018 in Bangkok, Thailand.[51]
• August–October 2018, a series of ministerial meeting in Singapore and Auckland.[52]
• The twenty-fourth round of RCEP negotiation was held on 18–27 October 2018 in Auckland, New Zealand.[53]
• 14 November 2018, a leaders' summit in Singapore was scheduled.[54][55]

2019

• The twenty-fifth round of RCEP negotiations was held from 19 to 28 February in Bali, Indonesia.[56]
• 2 March 2019, a ministerial meeting of RCEP trade ministers held in Cambodia. The ministers agreed to intensify engagement for the remainder of the year (including by convening more inter-sessional meetings).[57]
• Senior officials held inter-sessional meetings starting 24 May 2019 in Bangkok, Thailand to iron out issues pertaining to the goods and services sector.[58]
• The twenty-sixth round of RCEP negotiations was held on 3 July 2019 in Melbourne, Australia.[59]
• The twenty-seventh round of RCEP negotiations was held in Zhengzhou, China from 22 to 31 July 2019.[60]
• 2–3 August 2019, a ministerial meeting of RCEP trade ministers was held in Beijing, China.[61]
• 3rd RCEP summit was held once again on 31 October – 3 November 2019 in Thailand with 35th ASEAN summit on same day.
• The twenty-eighth round of RCEP negotiations was held in Danang, Vietnam from 19 to 27 September 2019.[62]
• India opts out of RCEP on 4 November 2019 in ASEAN+3 summit, citing, according to its view, the adverse impact the deal would have on its citizens.[63] In light of India's departure, Japan and China called on India to rejoin the partnership.[64][65]

2020

• The twenty-ninth round of RCEP negotiations was held from 20 to 24 April 2020 as a video conference, due to the current situation regarding COVID-19.[66]
• On 30 April 2020, Joint Statement of the 29th RCEP Trade Committee (RCEP TNC) Meeting was issued.[67]
• The thirtieth round of RCEP negotiations was held from 15 to 20 May 2020 as a video conference, due to the current situation regarding COVID-19 disease.[68]
• The tenth RCEP Inter-sessional Ministerial Meeting held in the form of a video conference on 23 June 2020.[69] The officials reiterated their determination to sign the RCEP at the fourth RCEP Summit in November.
• The thirty-first round of RCEP negotiation was held on 9 July 2020 as a video conference, due to the current situation regarding COVID-19 disease.[70]
• The Eighth Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Ministerial Meeting was held on 27 August 2020 as a video conference, due to the current situation regarding COVID-19 disease.[71] The Ministers issued a Joint Media Statement welcoming the progress made towards finalising the Agreement for signature.[72]
• The Eleventh RCEP Inter-sessional Ministerial Meeting held in the form of a video conference on 14 October 2020.[73]
• Preparatory RCEP Ministerial Meeting held in the form of a video conference on 11 November 2020.[74]
• The RCEP was signed on 15 November 2020,[4][5] in an unusual ceremony that saw the 15 member countries participate by video link due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[18]

In 2016, the Electronic Frontier Foundation described the first draft of RCEP's intellectual property provisions as containing "quite simply the worst provisions on copyright ever seen in a trade agreement."[75]

India pulled out of the deal in November 2019, primarily due to concerns of dumping of manufactured goods from China and agricultural and dairy products from Australia and New Zealand, potentially affecting its own domestic industrial and farming sectors.[76] Due to India's withdrawal, there are concerns that China may dominate RCEP.[19] ASEAN leaders stated that India was welcome to return and join the bloc. Any other state may join RCEP 18 months after it comes into force.[77]

When the RCEP was signed, Chinese premier Li Keqiang declared it "a victory of multilateralism and free trade".[8] Singaporean prime minister Lee Hsien Loong called it "a major step forward for our region" and a sign of support for free trade and economic interdependence.[19]

Former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull said that despite the "hoopla", it was "a really low ambition trade deal".[78]

According to Peter Petri and Michael Plummer at the Brookings Institution, the agreement represented "a triumph of ASEAN's middle-power diplomacy", even though it "says nothing at all about labor, the environment, or state-owned enterprises".[13]

Researchers of American multinational investment bank Citi suggested that RCEP was "a coup for China” and that India is one of the biggest losers from RCEP, also stating that "exclusion will likely make India less attractive as an alternative production base."[79]

The Wall Street Journal earlier reported that the tariff-related liberalizations from RCEP would be modest, calling it a "paper tiger". A comprehensive study into the deal shows that it would add just 0.08% to China's 2030 GDP without India's participation.[14][15]

According to Patricia Ranald at the Australian Institute of International Affairs, RCEP has limited gains from trade and ignores labor, human rights, and environmental sustainability issues.[16]

• Comprehensive Economic Partnership for East Asia (CEPEA)
• Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)
• Trans-Pacific Partnership
• East Asian Community
• East Asia Summit
• Asian values
• Pan-Asianism
• South Asian Free Trade Area
• Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP)

• Market access
• Free-trade area

• Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), ASEAN
• Market Access Map (A free tool developed by International Trade Centre, which identify customs tariffs, tariff rate quotas, trade remedies, regulatory requirements and preferential regimes applicable to products, including Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership)
• Rules of Origin Facilitator (A free tool jointly developed by International Trade Centre, World Trade Organization and World Customs Organization which enables traders to find specific criteria and general origin requirements applicable to their products, understand and comply with them in order to be eligible for preferential tariffs. The tool is very useful for traders who want to gain benefit from Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership)
• Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership page on the Rules of Origin Facilitator, with member countries' status and access to legal documents.