Rugao Customs in Rugao, Nantong, East China's Jiangsu province, issued a total of 830 certificates of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership for goods worth 220 million yuan ($32.55 million) from January to June, which are expected to reduce tariffs of over 1.1 million yuan for local enterprises.

Since the beginning of this year, to help enterprises make good use of the RCEP preferential policies, Rugao Customs has conducted several policy presentations online and offline. More than 200 enterprises in the city involved in chemical, clothing and home furnishings have benefited.

The RCEP is the largest and most important negotiated free trade agreement in the Asia-Pacific region.

It was signed on Nov 15, 2020, by 15 Asia-Pacific countries -- 10 members of the ASEAN and China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand -- after eight years of negotiations that started in 2012.

It formally implemented relevant tariff concession arrangements for Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Japan, New Zealand and Australia on Jan 1.

It came into force in South Korea on Feb 1 and in Malaysia on March 18.