Skip to main content

Get to Know the RCEP and What It Means for Overseas Chinese Businessmen

On December 27, the 2021 RCEP Young Overseas Chinese Business Innovation and Entrepreneurship Summit kicked off in Shishi City, Fujian Province. At the same time, 24 parallel sessions were held to reach overseas audiences from the Philippines, Japan, Thailand and other countries and regions virtually. This gathering invited experts, scholars and young overseas Chinese businessmen to explore the prospects and opportunities of economic and trade cooperation in the region.

On December 27, the 2021 RCEP Young Overseas Chinese Business Innovation and Entrepreneurship Summit was held in Shishi, Fujian

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership or RCEP will come into force on January 1, 2022. The agreement was signed among its 15 participating countries, including China, Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand and 10 ASEAN countries. It marks the launch of a free trade area featuring the largest population, the broadest commercial scale and greatest development potential in the world.

The unveiling ceremony of the Fujian Cross-border E-commerce Training Base for Young Overseas Chinese

This summit is the first regional economic and trade cooperation forum and matchmaking event to facilitate the innovation and entrepreneurship of young overseas Chinese businessmen from Fujian right before RCEP’s coming into force. Xu Ningning, Executive Director of the China-ASEAN Business Council and Chairman of the RCEP Industrial Cooperation Committee, attended the summit and introduced the background of the RCEP agreement and its great significance. Yuan Bo, Deputy Director of the Institute of Asian Studies of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under MOFCOM, expounded on the content of RCEP online.

“Young overseas Chinese businessmen can play a unique and vital role in connecting Fujian with the broader world and enhancing Fujian’s popularity and influence overseas,” said Wang Yongli, member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Fujian Provincial Committee and head of the United Front Work Department. He pointed out that the summit provided a platform for overseas Chinese businessmen to better understand local investment policies and promote cooperation.

“Fujian is not far from RCEP member states, especially Southeast Asian countries. Our people have become closer with a long history of people-to-people exchange. Most RCEP countries are the main gathering places of overseas Chinese of Fujian origin,” added Huang Dezhi, Deputy Director of the Fujian Provincial Department of Commerce. In recent years, Fujian and RCEP member countries have deepened the mutual economic and trade cooperation and exchange.

By the end of 2020, Fujian enterprises had set up 8 overseas economic and trade cooperation parks in Cambodia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia, attracting more than 20 enterprises and a cumulative investment of US$640 million.

According to Lin Yuqing, Chairman of the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce & Industry, RCEP will be a huge boost for all states in the region. In particular, it will bring more business opportunities to the Philippines and China with broader consumer markets, great potential for trade cooperation, and a more open regional market driven by more convenient and free trade and investment.

At the summit, Cai Zhixiong, a returned overseas Chinese from Indonesia and general manager of Fujian Hedai Trading Company, shared his successful practices and experience in growing cross-border e-commerce business relying on overseas warehouses.

Shishi is known for a hometown for overseas Chinese, and it has sent more than 1 million people to over 40 countries and regions in the world. Fujian immigrants, including those from Shishi, are among the earlier to settle in Southeast Asia, forming the largest Chinese community and building great wealth there. This lays a solid foundation for the establishment of a comprehensive cross-border logistics service network globally.

Huang Chunhui, Secretary of Shishi Municipal Committee, said that nearly 1,000 foreign trade market players are operating in Shishi and the city has economic and trade exchanges with 177 countries and regions. He believed that Shishi would definitely serve as a gateway to RCEP emerging markets.

Fujian’s first cross-border e-commerce platform for overseas Chinese, CTSSS, comes online

On the same day, CTSSS, Fujian’s first cross-border e-commerce platform for overseas Chinese, was officially launched, and the Fujian Cross-border E-commerce Training Base for Young Overseas Chinese was unveiled. Up to now, the training base has set up overseas liaison offices in 23 countries. In the future, it will deepen the cooperation with overseas Chinese businessmen at home and abroad in the fields of cross-border training, enterprise incubation, procurement docking and cultural exchange.

The Southeast Asia Procurement Center

During the summit, the participants would make inspection tours to explore economic and trade opportunities in Shishi. Representatives of innovative young overseas Chinese entrepreneurs that are interested in cross-border e-commerce or investment in Fujian will visit the Southeast Asia Procurement Center, where they can learn about the center’s service delivery and investment policies, and communicate with dealers on site. So far, more than 300 enterprises and 14 industrial pavilions have settled in the Southeast Asia Procurement Center, with an annual export of over 30 billion yuan to be expected. 11 overseas warehouses will be built in 6 countries, with a total area of 120,000 square meters and an investment of 210 million yuan.

The Summit is hosted by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the Fujian Provincial People’s Government, the Fujian Provincial Department of Commerce and the Communist Youth League of the CPC Fujian Provincial Committee. And it is organized by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the Quanzhou Municipal People’s Government, the Quanzhou Municipal Bureau of Commerce and the Shishi Municipal People’s Government. The co-sponsors include the World Fujian Youth Federation, the Fujian Overseas Chinese Investment Enterprise Association, the Fujian Province Association of Youth Entrepreneur, the world Quanzhou Youth Association, and overseas Chinese groups from RCEP member states.

Data & News supplied by www.cloudquote.io
Stock quotes supplied by Barchart
Quotes delayed at least 20 minutes.
By accessing this page, you agree to the following
Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions.