How Will the RCEP Impact the Global PV Market

As the world's largest free trade agreement, how will the RCEP impact the global PV market?

On Jan. 1st, 2022, the RCEP came into effect, making the agreement the largest free trade agreement in the world, surpassing the European Union.

The 15 member countries of RCEP have covered 2.2 billion people, with a total GDP of US $25.6 trillion, regional exports of US $5.6 trillion and foreign investment of US $370 billion, all of which account for about 30% of the global total.

After 8 years and 31 rounds of negotiations, the RCEP was officially signed on November 15, 2020.

The RCEP brings together ten ASEAN countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar, and ASEAN's 5 key Free Trade Agreement (FTA) partners: China, South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, totally 15 Asia-Pacific countries.

The ASEAN Secretary-General said that the entry into force of the RCEP agreement will provide an opportunity to promote the expansion of regional trade, a much-needed investment for economic recovery amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Shouwen Wang, Vice Minister of Commerce, once pointed out that the formation of a unified free trade area in the region will help the region to form a supply chain and value chain based on its comparative advantages, and it will help the flow of goods, technology, services and capital in the region, including the cross-border flow of people will have great benefits, forming a "trade creation" effect.

The signing of RCEP can not only reduce the construction and operation costs of Chinese photovoltaic enterprises' photovoltaic manufacturing projects in ASEAN countries, but also reduce the cost of electricity of photovoltaic power plants by reducing investment.

Zhengwei Yang, Deputy Director-General of the International Department of the Ministry of Commerce said: “A large number of immediate zero-tariff products will bring obvious opportunities to trade. On this basis, RCEP members will basically achieve zero tariffs on 90% of their products in about 10 years.”

The improvement of the supporting foundation of the whole photovoltaic industry chain is the competitive advantage of the global expansion of photovoltaic industry. The common goal of all countries in the world ultimately points to the realization of "carbon neutral". With the signing of the agreement, the pace of releasing the layout of renewable energy and realizing the goal of "carbon neutral" is just around the corn

With the support of RCEP, Chinese PV companies will be more confident to develop the PV market in Southeast Asia. As one of PV solar mounting system manufacturers in China, Power Stone will contribute to the low carbonization of the RCEP regional market and the global "carbon neutral" goal with continuous technological innovation.