Companies set to reap huge RCEP benefits

They also help domestic companies to benefit fully from the RCEP agreement by further fostering smoother and more efficient trade routes connecting western China with key seaports and rail hubs in the Asia-Pacific region and Europe, he said.

The full implementation of the RCEP agreement plays the role of ballast in attracting foreign investment to China as more investors are actively pursuing business opportunities that have arisen and further deepening their existing cooperation, said Zhu Bing, director-general of the Foreign Investment Administration Department at the Ministry of Commerce.

Agreed Zhang Yansheng, chief research fellow at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges. "More foreign companies will continue to take root in China due to the comprehensive implementation of the RCEP.

"Multinational corporations can expand their future industrial and supply chains to China-ASEAN, China-Japan-ROK and China-Australia-New Zealand regional economic cooperation circles. This expansion enables them to access significant trade and investment prospects stemming from regional growth."

Mike Walsh, executive vice-president of Dekra Group, a German testing, inspection and certification group with more than 48,000 employees globally, said the RCEP will create more favorable conditions to spur foreign trade and investment activities both in China and throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

"We plan to use the technological capabilities accumulated in China to develop our operations in Southeast Asia in the coming years," said Walsh, adding the RCEP pact supports the company's overall development plan for the Asia-Pacific region in terms of market and business management.

London-headquartered RX, one of the world's largest trade fair and event organizers in terms of sales revenue, said it will hold more business exhibitions across China and other RCEP markets to meet the demand from local companies seeking to boost exports in the coming years.

"With a large number of Chinese companies rushing to participate in various trade fairs across the world since late last year, one of the key values of trade shows is to have both suppliers and buyers meet and do business more efficiently and effectively," said Hugh Jones, the group's CEO, adding this value is particularly important for its international customers, as most of them are small and medium-sized enterprises.

As the RCEP agreement has created favorable conditions to spur foreign trade and investment activities, companies from signatory countries will have more demand to participate in various trade shows in the Asia-Pacific region in the years ahead, Jones said.