In the first quarter of the year, the customs office in Lishui city – located in East China's Zhejiang province – issued nearly 100 certificates of origin under RCEP, or the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership accord, a huge new Asia-Pacific trading club introduced earlier this year which will see tariffs and taxes between partner countries shrink dramatically.

RCEP certificates of origin operate like passports for the products being traded under the accord, facilitating the smooth flow of commerce between member states that include China.

About 20.85 million yuan ($3.18 million) in export cargo was involved in the Lishui certificates and the enterprises involved are expected to get tax breaks worth 330,000 yuan from RCEP member countries.

RCEP, the world's largest free trade agreement to date, covers 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN and its five free-trade agreement partners – namely China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

Taking effect on Jan 1 this year, the pact's signatory countries account for roughly 30 percent of the world's gross domestic product and population. Over 90 percent of trade in goods among approved member states will gradually become tariff-free, according to information from China's Ministry of Commerce.

The Lishui Customs has to date conducted a raft of RCEP promotional activities both online and on site, covering more than 200 local firms.