RCEP-Countries create Asia-Pacific free trade zone: trade facilitation but no integrated bloc

Abstract

The signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) on 15 Novem­ber 2020 establishes the world’s largest free trade area. The agreement was hailed as an important step forward for the international trade system: protectionism is no longer the only visible option for the third decade of the twenty-first century. But RCEP is a relatively weak instrument. It consolidates existing trade agreements in the region, but does not represent a breakthrough to a liberal economic space. It lacks the potential to make the Asia-Pacific region into a monolithic trading bloc, nor does it contribute to overcoming growing political tensions in the Indo-Pacific. (author's abstract)