Link to article: https://english.news.cn/20250109/637f83897b6542058dba32cd614800fd/c.html
China’s foreign trade has been greatly strengthened by the country’s participation in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), as stated by He Yadong, spokesperson for the Commerce Ministry. Made up of majority Southeast Asian countries including China, Japan, and South Korea, as well as Australia, New Zealand, and ten other countries in the region, the RCEP is a free trade agreement that China places heavy emphasis on for its future development. China’s presence in the RCEP as the most powerful economy leads to greater interdependence within the Asian-Pacific region, contributing to shared prosperity. According to Yadong, between January-November of 2024, there was a 4.4% increase in China’s trade of goods with other RCEP members, equalling approximately 1.67 trillion US dollars.
I think this article is important because it places emphasis on a competing economic powerhouse to the US economy, even as countries in the RCEP (South Korea, Australia, etc.) are major US trading partners. China itself is a major trading partner of the US, even if it is based more on necessity rather than friendly relations. I think that the RCEP is a very interesting development in the region, especially when looking back on historical connections between countries such as China and Japan. By interconnecting the economies of Asian Pacific powerhouses, all countries involved are able to prosper and further develop, creating more jobs. The article states that by 2030, 2.8 million jobs will be added to the region. Through the RCEP, countries find attraction in the possibilities of green-field investment.
China, in the position of the largest economy in the RCEP, has both the most to gain and the most to lose. Currently, the RCEP has been very beneficial to the country’s economy, adding trillions of dollars in terms of trade volume. China can also benefit from green-field investments outside of its borders, expanding the influence of Chinese manufacturing and products with greater access to natural resources they may otherwise be forced to import.
In class, we have been discussing international security and how countries act in order to protect their borders and citizens. China, at its core, is an economic powerhouse, which is its main defense against its economic equal, the US. By forming and maintaining a prospering free trade agreement in the region, China’s economy is growing substantially without US investment and trade, while simultaneously creating more employment opportunities for its citizens in and out of its borders. This further increases Chinese economic power in a similar way that began at the end of the Cold War, where the US saw global hegemony in terms of both its economy and military, countered by a prospering China.