Aligning with high-level global trade rules

Wu Xiaobin, president and chief operating officer of BeiGene, a global science-driven biotechnology company, said while China's further opening-up provides Chinese patients better access to foreign quality medicines, it also enables the innovative medicines that have been widely recognized in China to go abroad faster.

"Including ASEAN countries, the RCEP region has a total population of more than 2 billion where massive medical needs are not met," Wu said, adding the company is committed to providing world-class innovative medicines to more patients in the Asia-Pacific region under the RCEP agreement and contributing to the development of the global biotech industry as well as the improvement of the health of people in more countries.

Wang Yiming, vice-chairman of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, highlighted the significance of tariff concessions of the trade agreement, its cumulative rules of origin, and the remarkable improvement in trade and investment liberalization and facilitation.

The agreement will eventually eliminate 90 percent of tariffs on goods traded within the region. It also allows products to enjoy tariff removal and reduction as long as they have 40 percent of the total value to be added within the region.

That will largely enhance free flows of products, capital and information among the RCEP members to form stronger regional economic ties and more resilient regional industrial and supply chains, Wang said.

He also spoke highly of the RCEP agreement's provisions on services trade. Members of the agreement have all committed to the opening-up of more than 100 segments in the services sector, covering financing, telecommunications, transportation, tourism, and research and development, which will significantly stimulate the growth of trade in services, he said.

According to Huo Jianguo, vice-chairman of the China Society for World Trade Organization Studies, China's high-level opening-up will be on a faster track based on its domestic adjustments to fully fulfill the RCEP commitments.

That will also facilitate the nation's pursuit of joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, an 11-nation trade agreement with even higher standards for trade rules and market access compared with the RCEP agreement, Huo said.

"Aligning with high-level international economic and trade rules has become an important aspect among China's holistic efforts to expand high-level opening-up," he said.

"To meet demands and standards for high-level opening-up, China has carried out many pilot works and alterations, especially in pilot free trade zones and the Hainan Free Trade Port, such as regulatory adjustments, further opening up of financial and other services sectors and improvement of the business environment."