CCTV News: On the afternoon of January 9, 2025 (Thursday), the Ministry of Commerce held a press conference. The spokesperson introduced the recent key tasks in the business field and answered reporters' questions.

He Yadong introduced that RCEP is the free trade agreement with the largest number of people, the largest economic and trade scale, and the most development potential in the world. In the three years since its effectiveness and implementation, its influence has continued to expand, deepened trade and investment cooperation among regional members, and became the main channel for economic integration in the Asia-Pacific region.

First, the construction of the RCEP mechanism is constantly being improved. During the period when China served as the rotating chairman of the RCEP in 2024, it will fully promote the new membership process for RCEP to reach. With the joint efforts of all parties, the RCEP support agency was also officially put into operation last year. At present, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka and Chile have submitted formal applications to join RCEP, and some economies have expressed strong interest in joining RCEP, and the attractiveness and influence of RCEP are constantly increasing.

The second is to deepen the process of regional economic integration. RCEP has further relaxed market access to goods, services, investment and other regions, and has been more optimized in the business environment in the region, and has become more free and convenient in the flow of factors. In particular, RCEP cumulative rules for origin and 6-hour customs clearance for express delivery are conducive to promoting the development of regional trade. In 2023, the total regional trade volume of RCEP reached US$5.6 trillion; the amount of investment attracted by greenfield in the region reached 2.2 times that of 2021.

The third is to effectively consolidate my country's foreign trade basic foundation. Since the RCEP came into effect, my country's share of goods trade with RCEP members in my country's total import and export volume has remained above 30%; it reached 12.7 trillion yuan in 2023, an increase of 6.3% over 2021. From January to November 2024, it reached 12 trillion yuan, an increase of 4.4% year-on-year.

As the largest economy of RCEP, China will continue to implement RCEP in an all-round and high-quality manner, and make greater contributions to promoting the process of Asia-Pacific economic integration and achieving regional common development and prosperity.