在线国产一区二区_成人黄色片在线观看_国产成人免费_日韩精品免费在线视频_亚洲精品美女久久_欧美一级免费在线观看

Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
Opinion
Home / Opinion / Global Views

Trade stalwart

Securing a breakthrough in the China-Japan-ROK Free Trade Agreement within this year has become a shared imperative

By CHI FULIN | China Daily Global | Updated: 2025-07-21 07:33
Share
Share - WeChat
LI MIN/CHINA DAILY

In recent years, the intensifying global geopolitical rivalry has created headwinds for the trilateral cooperation among China, Japan and the Republic of Korea.

According to data from Global Trade Flow Database, from 2021 to 2024, intra-regional trade among the three countries declined from approximately $850 billion to $737 billion, a decrease of 13.5 percent. Japan's trade with the ROK has declined significantly, representing a weak spot in regional cooperation. In 2024, Japan's trade with the ROK was around $77.9 billion, a 7.8 percent drop from 2021.

Reigniting and accelerating the negotiations on a trilateral free trade agreement among China, Japan and the ROK is not only a realistic choice for their own interests, but also a critical step in ensuring regional supply chain security.

At the 13th Trilateral Economic and Trade Ministers' Meeting held in March this year, the three parties reaffirmed their commitment to fostering "a free, open, fair, non-discriminatory, transparent, inclusive and predictable trade and investment environment", providing a stable outlook for future cooperation.

Since negotiations kicked off in 2012, the China-Japan-ROK FTA has undergone 16 rounds of talks without reaching a conclusion. But in the face of new global dynamics and emerging challenges, accelerating the establishment of a high-standard trilateral FTA has become imperative.

As the world's second, fourth and 13th largest economies, China, Japan and the ROK together accounted for about 24 percent of global GDP and around 40 percent of global manufacturing output in 2024. A China-Japan-ROK FTA will create a more resilient regional growth pole, and inject greater certainty into the global trading system. Research estimates suggest that the agreement could raise the GDP of the three countries by 0.4 to 1.1 percent.

China, Japan and the ROK represent the greatest strength in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership cooperation. In terms of economic scale and industrial capacity, the three countries account for over 80 percent of the RCEP's total GDP and manufacturing value added. Their trilateral cooperation acts as a "ballast", playing a stabilizing role in regional production networks and shaping the trade architecture of the region.

At the same time, China, Japan and the ROK also represent a key weakness in RCEP regional economic cooperation. Although the RCEP has, for the first time, established a free trade arrangement among the three countries, their level of liberalization and rule-making in critical areas such as services and investment have lagged behind.

China, Japan and the ROK are playing a pivotal role in supporting the industrialization of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations by providing capital, technology and knowledge — thereby fostering a win-win model of regional cooperation and helping build ASEAN into a new "growth center".

China, Japan and the ROK could jointly expand market access and capacity-building efforts targeted at ASEAN. For example, the three countries can work together to increase the zero-tariff coverage on goods from ASEAN. At the same time, China, Japan and the ROK could collaborate to provide capacity-building, technical assistance and information-sharing initiatives to the least developed countries, enhancing the ability of ASEAN's small and medium-sized enterprises to effectively utilize the RCEP.

Breakthroughs in the trilateral free trade arrangements of China, Japan and the ROK will bring about an elevation of standards of the multilateral free trade arrangement of the RCEP. China has formally applied to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership while the ROK is currently considering accession. It is recommended that the China-Japan-ROK FTA negotiations prioritize emerging trade issues not yet fully addressed by the RCEP — such as the digital economy, green economy and high-standard rules on intellectual property rights, State-owned enterprises, government procurement, competition policy and transparency.

As the quality and standard of the China-Japan-ROK FTA improves, it could serve as "common ground" between the RCEP and the CPTPP, laying a practical and institutional foundation for convergence between the two agreements and contributing to the long-term vision of a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific.

Over the next five to 10 years, China's economic transformation will unleash substantial market demand, offering immense growth opportunities for Northeast Asia.

In 2024, China imported goods worth $181.7 billion from the ROK and $156.2 billion from Japan, exceeding the US' amount of imports from the two countries by around 17.5 percent. In terms of sectors, China remains the largest export destination for Japanese and ROK semiconductor products.

In recent years, the service trade complementarity among China, Japan and the ROK has steadily increased. In particular, China's accelerated development and broader opening up of its service sector has created favorable conditions for trilateral cooperation in areas such as R&D, tourism and elderly care.

In 2024, China's service trade market exceeded $1 trillion for the first time, reaching $1.06 trillion, with imports accounting for approximately $610 billion. If the share of the service trade in trilateral trade rises to the global average, it could generate new market opportunities for the trade in services. To achieve this, the three countries may explore mutual recognition mechanisms for academic credentials, professional qualifications and licensing standards.

China, Japan and the ROK should form a joint force against the US-launched trade war by focusing on reducing tariffs on automobiles. China could progressively open its market to high-end manufactured goods from Japan and the ROK, such as auto parts, semiconductors and chemical materials under the RCEP framework. In the context of rising US tariffs on automobiles and steel, China's tariff reductions on Japanese and the ROK's automobiles will deepen industrial ties with these countries.

In sectors where China has large demand for Japanese and ROK services — such as healthcare, elderly care, environmental protection and cultural tourism — it is recommended to expand the import list for these services. China could enhance alignment with the service markets of Japan and the ROK in terms of regulatory frameworks, supervisory standards, management practices and mutual recognition. For example, easing restrictions on Hallyu's (Korean Wave) entry to China and encouraging the entry of friendly cultural contents will enable Japan and the ROK to better share China's rapidly growing entertainment and consumer markets.

The author is president of the China Institute for Reform and Development. The author contributed this article to China Watch, a think tank powered by China Daily.

Contact the editor at editor@chinawatch.cn.

Most Viewed in 24 Hours
Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
主站蜘蛛池模板: 97精品在线观看 | 婷婷在线播放 | 亚洲综合在线播放 | 免费国产精品视频 | 97免费在线视频 | 国产一区精品在线观看 | 中国美女乱淫免费看视频 | 羞羞的网站 | 一区二区三区四区av | 亚洲第一综合 | 久久久久久国产精品 | 人人爱人人插 | 精品视频在线免费观看 | 五月婷婷丁香 | 99精品在线| 免费av在线| 97精品国产97久久久久久免费 | 亚洲一区二区三区在线视频 | 在线免费av网站 | 在线不卡av | 一区二区国产精品 | 成人黄色在线视频 | 国产精品视频网站 | 日韩在线视频播放 | 久久久久久久久国产精品 | 红桃av在线| 黄色一级免费视频 | 久久免费网 | 九九热在线观看视频 | 欧美精品在线播放 | 夜夜精品视频 | 欧美黄色一级视频 | 日韩精品在线免费观看 | 精品视频国产 | 91av在线播放 | 国产欧美日韩在线观看 | 成人欧美日韩 | 国产无遮挡又黄又爽免费网站 | 亚洲天天操 | 久久精品一区二区三区四区五区 | 欧美黄色一区二区 |