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On August 21, the second Ministerial Meeting of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) was held in Semarang, Indonesia, attended by ministers from the 10 ASEAN countries, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia and New Zealand. The meeting was co-chaired by the Indonesian Trade Minister and the Australian Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs.

The meeting highly affirmed the significance of the RCEP entering into force for 15 member states on June 2, 2023, believing that the continued in-depth implementation of the agreement will create more opportunities for the development of enterprises in the region, strongly promote regional economic integration, and inject strong impetus into the growth of regional and global trade and investment.

All parties at the meeting pledged to fulfill the obligations of RCEP at a high level, accelerate the completion of the work of the tariff conversion, and ensure that the tax reduction is smooth and in place.

The meeting adopted the terms of reference and funding arrangements of the RCEP secretarial body, and promoted its operation by January 1, 2024.

The meeting instructed the RCEP Joint Committee and its subsidiary bodies to work on an institutional basis to ensure the transparent, smooth and effective implementation of the agreement.

The meeting reaffirmed that the RCEP is an open and inclusive agreement, and encouraged all parties to continue discussions and reach a timely conclusion of the accession procedure for new members. We reiterate the importance of RCEP economic and technical cooperation, and look forward to implementing economic and technical cooperation projects to help all parties better enjoy the policy dividends of the agreement.

Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Li Fei said in his speech that the effective implementation of RCEP for all member countries is of great significance to promote the growth of trade and investment of all countries and maintain the security and stability of regional industrial chain and supply chain. China hopes that all parties will speed up the discussion on the accession procedure of new members and reach an agreement as soon as possible so as to prepare for the accession of other economies to the agreement. China welcomes all parties to actively participate in the RCEP economic and trade activities hosted by China, and work with all parties to continuously implement the RCEP in an in-depth and high-quality manner, so that the agreement can better benefit enterprises and people of all countries and jointly promote long-term prosperity and development of the regional economy.