The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement (RCEP), which took effect in January, has boosted regional economic and trade cooperation, providing new impetus for the development of foreign trade enterprises in Yantai, a coastal city in East China's Shandong province.

According to official data released by Yantai customs, in the first half of this year, the city issued a total of 5,097 certificates of origin under RCEP, with a value of 1.3 billion yuan ($191.5 million), helping reduce or exempt more than 20 million yuan in import tariffs.

Yantai is adjacent to Japan and South Korea, which enables local enterprises to benefit more from the RCEP agreement.

Changyu Group, China's oldest maker of wine and brandy, recently exported 725 cases of wine to Japan, which was the first time the company had exported its wine products to Japan. The RCEP certificate of origin has brought tariff reductions of 9,900 yuan for Changyu Group.

As the largest wine company in Asia, Changyu Group has exported its wine to more than 70 countries and regions around the world, but in the past, it was difficult for the company to enter the Japanese market. With the implementation of the RCEP agreement, the tariffs on wine exported to Japan is expected to gradually decline from 15 percent to zero, and the wine produced in China is priced relatively low, making it highly competitive in global markets.

"Thanks to the RCEP agreement, our wine has entered the Japanese market, and our company signed a contract with two Japanese customers, which has enhanced our confidence to explore new markets," said Zhao Dongmei, manager of Changyu Group's export department.