Taizhou has recently been offering local foreign trade companies training related to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement, which will be implemented soon.

Initiated by the 10 ASEAN countries to establish a unified market through the reduction of tariffs and non-tariff barriers, the RCEP will take effect on Jan 1, 2022. More than 90 percent of merchandise trade in the region will eventually be subjected to zero tariffs.

The RCEP includes 10 ASEAN member states, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. The 15 states account for about 30 percent of the world's total population, gross domestic product and trade.

The training sessions are part of the local government's efforts to help enterprises reap dividends from the RCEP agreement.

Taizhou has long maintained close economic and trade ties with other RCEP members.

ASEAN has also been a close trading partner with Taizhou for many years. In 2020, Taizhou's exports to ASEAN reached 14.17 billion yuan ($2.18 billion), up 8.7 percent year-on-year, and its exports of mechanical and electrical products to the bloc stood at 9.95 billion yuan, accounting for 70 percent of the total, official data show.

This year, the city launched a series of online exhibitions to help local businesses in sectors such as automobiles and parts, plastic molds, building materials, sanitary ware, and medicine and health expand their operations in ASEAN, Japan and South Korea.

Apart from the online events, sixteen representatives including government officials and entrepreneurs from seven ASEAN countries including Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines were invited to visit Taizhou.