On November 3-4, the RCEP Ministerial Conference was held in Cebu, Philippines. Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen, leading the Chinese delegation consisting of members from the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture, attended the conference. The participating ministers reiterated the leaders ’instruction on how to conclude RCEP negotiations quickly, and how to evaluate the progress of the negotiation comprehensively. They also had in-depth discussions on key issues in the three core fields including trade in goods, service trade and investment, and provided strategic guidance for the next negotiation.

The participating ministers welcomed the completion of the chapter on economic and technological cooperation during the 15th round of negotiation held in Tianjin, China. The important progress generates power for the negotiations, and will contribute to narrowing down the development gap among the member countries. The effective implementation and application of the agreement will maximize the benefits of RCEP.

The participating ministers urged the officials to take part in the negotiations, grasp the active power brought by the above progress, remain strong willed, make great efforts, and reach a modern, comprehensive, high-quality and reciprocal RCEP agreement according to the requirements in the Guiding Principle and Goals of RCEP Negotiations. Besides, against the background of the globally weak economy, unbalanced growth of the developed economies , the slowing-down growth of emerging markets, the weak expectation of global trade growth and the rising sentiments for the trade protectionism, the ministers emphasized the urgency of concluding RCEP negotiations through a package solution. They thought this will help the confidence of the world economy.

The participating ministers required the officials to take part in negotiations to promote negotiations according to the instructions of the Ministerial Conference, and show their flexibility through active cooperation, which is to solve the sensitive issues and interests demands of all the parties.

According to the plans, the 16th round of RCEP negotiation will be held on December 6-10 in Indonesia.

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