China maintains Q1 trade with RCEP members

CHINA’S foreign trade from numerous regions with other Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) members in the first quarter showed encouraging growth, recent customs data showed, as China is promoting high-quality opening up with neighboring countries.

The trade of South China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region with RCEP members reached 139.88 billion yuan ($19.73 billion), up 30.1 percent year on year. Trade with Association of Southeast Asian Nations members rose 31.1 percent, data from the Nanning customs showed on Saturday.

Northwest China’s Shaanxi province reported that trade with other RCEP members totaled 65.73 billion yuan, with vehicle exports surging 159.2 percent, data from the Xi’an customs showed on Saturday.

China and other RCEP members have important positions in cooperation regarding the manufacturing industry and raw materials, Chen Fengying, an economist and former director of the Institute of World Economic Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times on Sunday.

Since the beginning of this year, customs offices in Beijing, North China’s Tianjin Municipality and Shijiazhuang in North China’s Hebei province have focused on key industries such as vehicles, steel and bicycles, helping exporters to take full advantage of tariff reduction policies under free trade agreements.

Customs offices in the three cities collectively issued a total of 5,900 certificates of origin for enterprises’ exports under the RCEP, up 13.2 percent year on year, involving a total value of 2.03 billion yuan, up 3.7 percent.