Enterprises in Guangxi ride RCEP momentum to expand ASEAN market

NANNING, April 7 (Xinhua) -- With spring now sprung, the tea harvest is in full swing in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, south China.

Longshengyuan Tea in Guangxi has also kicked off its business season in 2024 with booming export orders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries like Malaysia.

As of early February, the company had exported 51 tonnes of tea products, with a value of 1.2 million yuan ($169,000).

The company's prosperous business offers a glimpse into the benefits brought by the implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) on Jan 1, 2022.

In 2023, the company enjoyed export tax rebates of about 1.08 million yuan thanks to RCEP tariff reduction policies, said Feng Wenzhen, head of Longshengyuan Tea.

"It greatly alleviated the company's operational pressure and helped us expand into the overseas market for jasmine tea," Feng added.

Since the trade pact took effect, more and more Chinese enterprises like Longshengyuan have benefited from the closer trade and economic cooperation between China and RCEP member countries, especially the zero-tariff treatment.

China's foreign trade with the other 14 RCEP members amounted to 12.6 trillion yuan in 2023, a 5.3 percent increase compared with that in 2021 before the agreement came into force.

The pact has allowed Chinese trade companies to enjoy 2.36 billion yuan of tariff concessions for products imported from RCEP countries, while enterprises in RCEP countries benefited from 4.05 billion yuan of tax breaks for products imported from China in 2023.

The agricultural industry has been a key area of trade cooperation between China and ASEAN. With the implementation of RCEP, agricultural enterprises have found new business opportunities in Southeast Asian countries.

Eyeing the rising demand for ecological products in the Southeast Asian market, Guangxi's Haijia Food Technology has expanded into a niche market, exporting silkworm pupae to Vietnam.

Moreover, the Xinyuan Agricultural Cooperative in a China-Vietnam border town in Fangchenggang city of Guangxi has seen a continuous increase in overseas orders of orah mandarins this year.

"We never expected the orah mandarins grown in the village could enter the international market," said He Shenda, head of the agricultural cooperative.

SAIC-GM-Wuling (SGMW), a joint venture between SAIC Motor, General Motors and Liuzhou Wuling Motors, saw its vehicle export this year exceed 12,000 units.

"It normally takes only two working days to complete the export tax rebate process, which is really convenient. In 2023, the company received export tax rebates of 778 million yuan, greatly alleviating the financial pressure," said Li Chen, the company's tax manager.

The tax authorities in Guangxi will continue to implement tax preferential policies and help enterprises better integrate into the RCEP market," said Liu Hu, director of the Guangxi regional tax service.