Chongqing-Chongqing has added 19 projects cooperated with the member states of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement from January to May of this year, receiving hundreds of billion yuan of import and export value, released by Chongqing Municipal Commission of Commerce on the International Forum on RCEP and the Opening-up of Western China held in Chongqing Liangjiang New Area on July 22.

Since RCEP took effect on January 1, the agreement has brought 107.55 billion yuan of export and import value to the city of Chongqing, up 12.5% compared to the last year with the same countries.

Gong Zhiyong, one of the leaders of the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Commerce, said that the most significant influence on the city’s foreign trade by RCEP is tariff relief. He revealed that within a year, the ratio of duty-free commodities between Chongqing and RCEP member states expects to reach 56%. In 10 years, this number expects to be 75% and 90% within 30 years.

Chongqing has close ties with RCEP member states in terms of foreign trade. In 2021, Chongqing imported and exported 236.81 billion yuan with other 14 RCEP member states, accounting for 29.6% of the total foreign trade value.

Themed “Sharing the RCEP Opportunities, Serving to Build New Pattern of Development,” the International Forum on RCEP and the Opening-up of Western China is hosted by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and Chongqing’s government. Several experts, entrepreneurs, and foreign trade promotion institutions gather in the forum to exchange opinions regarding RCEP and the trade and investment opportunities in western China.

Low Kian Chuan, President of the National Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia, called China the “locomotive” for the regional economic recovery. He encouraged Chinese companies to expand investments in all member states to strengthen the supply chain ties between the ASEAN and the rest of the world.

“This will benefit not only ASEAN but also the Chinese customers,” he said.

Morinaga Masahiro, Representative of the Japan External Trade Organization in Chengdu, China, also joined the forum. He told iChongqing that he looks forward to seeing the flourishment of Sichuan and Chongqing’s foreign trade under the RCEP frame. Masahiro said, "the foreign companies in Sichuan and Chongqing are not as experienced as those on the east coast, but with the help of RCEP, they will grow a lot from learning the rule and regulation of foreign trade under the RCEP agreement, and they might catch up with their east-coast business peers."