RCEP has added new vitality to the development of the petrochemical industry

Until January 1, 2023, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) will enter into force for one year
.
Over the past year, the world's largest free trade zone, with the largest population, the most diverse membership structure and the greatest development potential, has added new vitality to regional economic cooperation and rejuvenated under the overall bleak picture of the world economy
.

Since the RCEP came into effect on January 1, 2022, petroleum and chemical enterprises across the country have taken active actions, the petrochemical trade volume has grown steadily, the trade deficit has gradually narrowed, and the export growth has led the overall trade fundamentals
.
China's petrochemical industry has a closer trade partnership in the RCEP region, market competitiveness has gradually improved, and the industry structure has been continuously optimized
.

Improve the level of cooperation in the petrochemical industry

"RCEP provides a new engine
for regional and global economic development.
Its core is to enhance the opening of markets for trade in goods, services, investment and the movement of people, especially in tariffs
.
Jia Meiping, chief engineer of China Chemical Engineering, said that the implementation of RCEP provides strong momentum for the petrochemical industry chain to strengthen the chain, supplement chain and extend the chain, and inject new momentum
into the construction of a unified market within the region and the realization of global prosperity and development.

As of December 15, 2022, the national trade promotion system has issued more than 150,000 RCEP certificates of origin, involving a total amount of US$6.
6 billion, and the petrochemical industry has become one of the
main concentrated industries.

Pang Guanglian, member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee and deputy secretary-general of the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation, said: "The economic structure of RCEP members is highly complementary, and the capital, technology and labor factors in the region are complete
.
RCEP further relaxes market access in goods, investment, services and other fields among member countries, and large-scale tariff reductions and rules of origin will promote the free flow of economic factors in the region, drive the expansion and upgrading of the regional consumer market, and promote the further development of
the regional industrial chain, supply chain and value chain.
"Statistics from the International Capacity Cooperation Enterprise Alliance of China's petroleum and chemical industry show that petrochemical trade between China and RCEP has grown significantly
.
In January ~ November 2022, the total petrochemical trade between China and RCEP has exceeded the annual trade volume of 2021, reaching 266.
6 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 16%.

"The processing of RCEP certificates of origin has led to a significant increase in our trade in Southeast Asia, and we will increase our efforts in RCEP member countries in the future
.
" Zhao Xuedong, head of the international sales department of the chlor-alkali chemical branch of Inner Mongolia Ordos Electric Power Metallurgical Group Co.
, Ltd.
, said
.
The company's caustic soda and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) are exported to Southeast Asia, Africa and other places
.

Promote intraregional economic integration

At present, world economic growth is weak, and economic globalization and free trade are facing severe challenges
.
However, since the implementation of RCEP, positive progress
has been made in regional trade and investment.

Olamon, director of the Trade Negotiation Department of Thailand's Ministry of Commerce, said that the most obvious benefit of the RCEP implementation is to boost trade between member countries in the region and further promote regional economic integration
.
In the first nine months of 2022, the total value of imports and exports between Thailand and RCEP members increased by 10.
1%
compared with the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Commerce of Thailand.

RCEP's series of arrangements, represented by the rules of accumulation of origin, are effectively reducing regional production costs, improving trade efficiency, and strengthening regional industrial chain and supply chain cooperation
.
Li Yan, chairman of Petronas China, said that RCEP promotes regional industrial circulation and division of labor, forms a complementary mechanism of resources and technology, and is conducive to member countries giving full play to their advantages
in international trade.
In the first year of its implementation, ASEAN became the mainstay
of promoting China's regional trade with RCEP.
In January ~ November 2022, the total petrochemical trade between China and ASEAN was US$142 billion, accounting for more than half of the total RCEP trade, reaching 53.
2%.

Bring new opportunities for win-win cooperation

On January 2, 2023, the RCEP became effective and Indonesia was added
.
So far, RCEP has taken the lead in 10 countries from the beginning of 2022, realizing the current 14 countries "working together"
.
This also brings new opportunities
for the petrochemical industry.

On January 3, Fujian Quanzhou Changbo Plastic Co.
, Ltd.
exported polypropylene plastic sheets to Indonesia and applied for the issuance of Fujian's first certificate of origin for export to Indonesia under RCEP
.
The value of the polypropylene plastic sheets is 249,000 yuan, and the tariff reduction of the importing country can be reduced by about 37,500 yuan
with the RCEP certificate of origin.

Taking the value of the company's exports to Indonesia in 2022 as a reference, it is expected that RCEP can reduce import tariffs by about 370,000 yuan
for the company's exports to Indonesia in one year.
This will play an important role
in our further development of the Indonesian market.
Yang Liteng, general manager of Jiaxing Xin'an Packaging Materials Co.
, Ltd.
, said
.
Jiaxing Xin'an specializes in the production of PVC press-extended heat shrinkable film, and Indonesia is one of
its important export destinations.
Previously, the company's PVC heat shrinkable film exported to Indonesia, the basic tax rate was 10%, the preferential tax rate under the China-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement was 5%, and after the RCEP agreement came into effect for Indonesia, it was directly zero tariffs, adding development stamina
to enterprises.

At present, RCEP member countries have gradually become an important rear base of China's petrochemical supply chain, and China's petrochemical trade with other RCEP member countries accounts for 27%
of the total global trade.
After the restructuring of the global supply chain, the petrochemical trade in the RCEP region has become more resilient, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore and other member countries in the region have significantly increased their trade with China, and RCEP has promoted the further integration of the industrial chain and supply chain in the Asia-Pacific region, becoming an important base
for China's petrochemical industry chain extension and product supply.