Employees work at a foreign trade company in Rugao, Nantong. [Photo/Voice of Nantong]

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the largest free trade agreement in the world, has stepped up the development of foreign trade in Rugao, a county-level city in Nantong, East China's Jiangsu province.

Data shows that Rugao Customs issued a total of 9,586 RCEP certificates of origin that resulted in tariff reductions of $14.2 million for nearly 600 enterprises in 2022. In the first quarter of this year, the number of RCEP certificates issued by Rugao increased by 52.8 percent compared with the same period last year, one of the highest among all county-level regions in China.

Tariff exemptions have in turn boosted the competitiveness of foreign trade enterprises. Wu Jun, customs manager of Jiangsu Meitoku Toys Co Ltd, said that the company's total exports to RCEP member countries have increased by 12.5 percent year-on-year as the company received more than 30 RCEP certificates of origin this year. "We will continue to make good use of the RCEP to expand into overseas markets," said Wu.

Nantong Dongrun Fashion Co Ltd in Jiuhua town, Rugao, has applied for RCEP certificates of origin for all of its products since the RCEP took effect last year. In the first quarter of 2023, the company's exports were worth nearly 70 million yuan ($10.17 million) and these certificates saved their foreign customers more than 1 million yuan in taxes, said Zhang Zhou, head of customs clearance at Dongrun.

Zhang added that many customers said they will place more orders because of the benefits of the RCEP.

The free trade deal has also boosted Rugao enterprises' imports. Jiangsu Yangheng Chemical Co Ltd, which has long been importing raw materials from Japan, has been exempted from over 1 million yuan of taxes due to RCEP policies, said Yao Bixia, director the company's business department.

According to an official at the Rugao bureau of commerce, the city will also gather enterprises to participate in major exhibitions to help them explore emerging markets of countries involved in the RCEP and Belt and Road Initiative, while maintaining orders from European and US markets.