(Yicai Global) Jan. 19 -- The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which came into effect on Jan. 1, and the China International Import Expo will jointly promote regionalization, globalization and new partnerships in industry and supply chains, said experts and scholars at the CIIE’s new year communication conference held today. 

RCEP member countries will be key participants in the CIIE, said Liu Fuxue, deputy director of the CIIE Bureau. More than 900 companies from RCEP countries attended last year’s CIIE, with the corresponding exhibition area taking up about 100,000 square meters, or one-fourth of the total.

Countries in the free trade area have made commitments about high-level opening-up in the fields of trade, services, investment and e-commerce. 

The RCEP’s most important role will be to seize the opportunity offered by the eastward shift of global economic activity and the potential benefits for industry chains and supply chains, said Zhang Yansheng, chief researcher at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges.

The world may also see an eastward tilt in terms of demand, supply, innovation, services, capital, finance and currency cooperation in the post-Covid-19 era, Zhang added. 

The RCEP provides great flexibility for companies’ positioning in both industry chains and supply chains, said Zhai Jingli, China vice president for Indonesian paper maker Sinar Mas Group.

Nations such as Australia and New Zealand are significant sources of primary raw materials, while China boasts upstream and downstream assembly bases for high-end industries as well as production bases for labor-intensive sectors. For instance, Sinar Mas has built a pulp mill in Indonesia and its products are made in China and sold in 15 RCEP member countries, Zhai noted.

The fifth CIIE is scheduled to be held in Shanghai between Nov. 5 and 10.

Editor: Tom Litting