RCEP agreement coasts on multilateral ties

Chinese-made export-bound vehicles wait to be shipped at the Lianyungang Port in Jiangsu province on Dec 7. China's foreign trade expanded 7.8 per cent year-on-year in November, with exports jumping 14.9 per cent and imports declining 0.8 per cent on a yearly basis.- China Daily

HONG KONG (China Daily/ANN): Ever since China and 14 other countries signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement on Nov 15 in Hanoi, Vietnam, Xiao Maochang, chairman of Shandong province-based textile products maker Sunvim Group, could not stop wondering which Southeast Asian markets are yet to be served by the company.

All the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or Asean, are RCEP signatories. So are Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. Experts have called the RCEP "a victory of multilateralism and free trade" as the 15 nations collectively account for nearly a third of the world's GDP.