In the first week of RCEP implementation (January 1 to 7), Guangzhou Customs has issued a total of 79 RCEP certificates of origin in 7 cities under its jurisdiction (Guangzhou, Foshan, Heyuan, Yunfu, Shaoguan, Qingyuan, Zhaoqing), involving a total product value of about 30.73 million yuan, according to customs.

(Photo: Guangzhou Daily)

The RCEP rules allow products to enjoy lower or zero tariffs more easily than many other free trade agreements. As for trade in goods, the total number of zero tariff products will exceed 90%, which brings new opportunities for a number of companies in Guangdong.

The Sunny Group is a Guangzhou-based company mainly engaged in insulation containers business, and has been exporting their products for more than 20 years.

"According to Japan's RCEP tariff reduction commitment to China, most of our exports to Japan will enjoy zero tariffs. On January 1, Panyu Customs issued an RCEP certificate of origin for a batch of exported vacuum cups worth about 216,000 US dollars and helped to reduce tariffs of about 5,500 yuan," said an executive of the company. It is expected to reduce or exempt tariffs of more than 400,000 yuan for a year.

Through the signing of RCEP, China and Japan have reached a tariff reduction arrangement for the first time. In 2022, China conducts zero tariffs on about 25% of products from Japan, and Japan conducts zero tariffs on about 57% of Chinese products.