On September 25, the fourth Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Ministers’ Meeting since its entry into force was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Vice Minister of Commerce Yan Dong attended the meeting and delivered remarks.

The meeting exchanged views on recent regional and global economic developments and their implications for trade, investment, and economic integration. It discussed ways to strengthen RCEP implementation in the current global economic environment to support free trade and the rules-based multilateral trading system. All parties reaffirmed their commitment to refrain from taking any measures inconsistent with RCEP obligations, to uphold open, free, and rules-based markets, remove unnecessary trade barriers, and enhance trade and investment facilitation. The meeting reiterated that RCEP is an open and inclusive regional agreement. It welcomed the RCEP Joint Committee’s adoption of the Terms of Reference of the Ad Hoc Accession Working Group and called on the joint committee to advance the processing of accession applications while ensuring RCEP’s high standards.

In his remarks, Yan Dong stated that the regional economic integration process is currently facing unprecedented challenges and uncertainties. RCEP Participating Countries (RPCs) should uphold multilateralism, fully consolidate the momentum of Asia-Pacific economic cooperation, adhere to openness and inclusiveness, actively build a stable and diversified cooperation platform, and keep pace with the times to continuously tap into the potential of regional free trade cooperation. By leveraging the inherent stability and long-term growth potential of regional development, RPCs can address the uncertainties in the international economic and trade environment and deliver tangible benefits to businesses and people in the region.