With the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership or RCEP trading agreement having come into effect on Jan 1, Shinan district – located in Qingdao city in East China's Shandong province – is tapping its potential and moving to create an attractive and quality environment that will galvanize the development of foreign trade, according to local media reports on Jan 13.

RCEP is a major free trade agreement between Asia-Pacific nations that was signed in November 2020. Fifteen countries – including China – formed the world's largest trading bloc, covering nearly one third of the global economy. As a result, the tariffs on goods trade for its members will be reduced to zero immediately or gradually, with more than 90 percent of the goods in the bloc eventually having zero tariffs.

After RCEP began operating at the start of the month, the tax rate on some cotton products exported from Shinan to Japan was lowered from 4.5 percent to 4.2 percent, which is expected to help local enterprises cut costs and expand into new markets. It is estimated that annual exports to Japan in the current year will increase by 15 percent compared with last year.

In 2021, more than 1,600 businesses in the district conducted trade with RCEP member countries. As a result, the value of imports and exports to RCEP countries is expected to reach 28.36 billion yuan ($4.46 billion), accounting for 39.5 percent of the total foreign trade of the region.