Ningbo to benefit from milestone RCEP

As a port city and foreign trade hub of China, Ningbo is expected to reap huge dividends from the RCEP.

On Nov 15, the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its five free trade partners -- namely China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand, inked the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), pledging to lower trade barriers and improve relations within the region.

The RCEP has been by far the world's largest free trade deal since its inception eight years ago.

Li Xujun, head of the foreign trade management office of the Ningbo Municipal Bureau of Commerce, said that the RCEP will offer Ningbo companies a wider range of markets in the face of tariffs and Sino-US trade friction.

The ASEAN is currently Ningbo's third largest trading partner. Official data show that the city's trade with the bloc surged 11.2 percent year-on-year to 87.86 billion yuan ($12.73 billion) in the first 10 months of this year.

The value of trade between Ningbo and the countries involved in the free trade agreement accounted for 25 percent of the city's total trade over this period.