HAIKOU /China/, August 16. /TASS/. The trade volume of China's southern province of Hainan with the member countries of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) amounted to 37.56 billion yuan (about $5.2 billion) in the first half of this year, up 19.3% year-on-year., the Haikou City Customs Office reported.
Hainan's trade with RCEP countries accounted for 32.6% of the province's total foreign trade in the first half of the year, the document said. Australia, Indonesia and Japan were Hainan's three largest trading partners during the reporting period, with trade with them accounting for 62% of the province's total trade with the RCEP countries.
Hainan mainly imported ore, hard coal, cosmetics and toiletries from RCEP countries in the first half of the year. The province's exports were dominated by petroleum products, electromechanical products, agricultural products and paper products.
China and 14 other countries agreed to establish the RCEP on the margins of the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on November 15, 2020. The 15 nations participating in the trade agreement are Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia. They account for a third of the world's GDP.
Over the course of 20 years, the RCEP is expected to gradually reduce or eliminate already low trade tariffs between members. Some countries in the partnership already have their own free trade agreements, but they work with certain caveats.