Professor Paul Cheung had the honor of being invited as a panel discussant at the 2025 RCEP Media & Think Tank Forum, themed “Jointly Building a High-Level and Largest Free Trade Area”, held in Hainan, China. The event drew over 300 researchers representing nearly all RCEP Participating Countries.
One of the questions raised during the conference was “Can RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) become better and more effective?”
RCEP is the world largest free trade agreement, covering almost a third of the world’s population and GDP. It builds on the ASEAN+1 free trade mechanisms but, importantly, it provides a free trade platform incorporating 5 ASEAN partners. Yes, some of the RCEP provisions may not be as generous as the ASEAN+1 FTAs. This gap is a short-term issue. It is important to recognize that RCEP has great potential to establish itself as a strong, stable free trade platform for this region and beyond, based on multilateralism and global cooperation at a time of economic turbulence.
The CIRD conference noted the need for RCEP to address the issue of further tariff reduction and a unified tariff system to align itself with other FTAs. Full cumulation in the rule of origin provision, moving to a negative list approach, and reduction in non-tariff barriers are some of the many suggestions recommended. The expansion of RCEP membership was recognised as an important step to broaden the reach of this free trade platform.
The conference also noted the establishment of the RCEP Support Unit (RSU) as a concrete step to advance RCEP. The encouraging speeches by the Chairperson of the RCEP Joint Committee (RJC) provided valuable insights into the future and potentials of RCEP.
The answer to the question of whether RCEP will become better and more effective is clear. It is imperative for RCEP to become better and more effective, and it will.