Four years after RCEP came into effect: Hangzhou Customs facilitated over 80 billion yuan worth of export goods to enjoy preferential policies, giving wings to Zhejiang enterprises.

January 1, 2026, marks the fifth anniversary of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). As the world’s largest free trade agreement, the tariff reduction policies released by RCEP over the past four years have injected new momentum into Zhejiang enterprises’ deep integration into the regional industrial chain and the expansion of new international trade spaces. Statistics show that in the four years since RCEP came into effect (as of November 2025), Hangzhou Customs has issued a total of 295,000 RCEP certificates of origin, benefiting export goods worth 80.69 billion yuan. Tariff reductions have continuously boosted Zhejiang enterprises’ “going global” efforts. Over the past four years, as tariff rates in RCEP member countries have gradually decreased, the coverage of benefits for Zhejiang enterprises has become increasingly wider. Data shows that the number of RCEP certificates of origin issued by Hangzhou Customs increased from 52,800 in 2022 to 87,100 in the first 11 months of 2025, and the number of companies in the jurisdiction issuing certificates increased from over 2,300 to nearly 3,200. Industries such as plastic products, textiles and apparel, and chemicals have benefited significantly. Wankai New Materials Co., Ltd. is a leading domestic enterprise specializing in the R&D, production, and sales of polyester materials. The four years since RCEP came into effect have been a golden period for the company’s exports to ASEAN and other RCEP member countries. The tariff reductions and customs clearance facilitation brought by the agreement have provided strong support for their expansion into the Southeast Asian market. “In 2023, the company established an overseas warehouse in Indonesia, and its export volume increased by more than 50%. The number of customers enjoying RCEP tariff preferences has expanded from the initial two to more than a dozen,” said Li Ming, the company’s logistics manager. Over the four years, the company has applied for RCEP certificates for export goods worth 830 million yuan, resulting in tariff reductions of approximately 42 million yuan in importing countries. Buyers from Yiwu, the “World’s Small Commodities Capital,” have also benefited from the RCEP free trade agreement. Yiwu’s clothing, toys, and other small commodities exported to RCEP member countries mostly enjoy tariff preferences. Buyers use these tariff reductions as leverage in foreign trade negotiations, helping them better enhance the price competitiveness of their products and win more export orders. The flexible use of systems like “back-to-back” certification further expands markets. “This year, we have issued declarations of origin for more than 170 batches of goods. The self-issuance of declarations not only allows for more flexible arrangements of production and export, but this qualification also improves the company’s credit in the international market,” said Zhu Fangfei, Customs Manager of Terumo Medical Products (Hangzhou) Co., Ltd. She added that since the company obtained Approved Exporter certification in August 2023, the number of RCEP declarations of origin issued has increased year by year. In addition to the Approved Exporter system, RCEP has also introduced a “back-to-back” certificate of origin system and cumulative rules of origin, further facilitating the flow of production factors and import/export trade among member countries. The “back-to-back” certificate of origin system is an innovative measure of RCEP. Goods, while maintaining their original status, can undergo logistics splitting and consolidation, repackaging and labeling in member countries, and be transported in batches to different member countries to enjoy preferential customs clearance. Jiaxing Kaitong Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd. is a comprehensive supply chain service enterprise, mainly engaged in domestic and international freight forwarding, warehousing, and supply chain management. “After Jiaxing Customs explained the relevant policies of back-to-back certificates in detail, we began to actively plan our import and re-export business,” said Wang Wei, the company’s business manager. He explained that since 2025, the company has applied for more than 300 RCEP “back-to-back” certificates of origin from Jiaxing Customs. With the help of these certificates, the company has successfully sold backpacks and other goods originating from Vietnam to six RCEP member countries and enjoyed corresponding tariff preferences. “We expect the export value of this business to reach 30 million yuan in 2026.” The network of self-service certificate printing points is being expanded to allow businesses to enjoy convenient benefits. Recently, at the newly established “e-printing” service point for certificates of origin at the Shaoxing Paojiang Development Zone branch of the Bank of China, Yu Guoqin, a document clerk at Shaoxing Youding Stationery Co., Ltd., successfully printed an RCEP certificate of origin. “This service point set up at the bank is very close to our company. When printing the certificate of origin, we can also handle foreign exchange settlement and other business at the same time, which is very convenient,” said Yu Guoqin. Since the RCEP came into effect, Hangzhou Customs, based on intelligent verification and self-service printing of certificates of origin, has focused on how to make it easier for foreign trade enterprises to enjoy the benefits. In conjunction with relevant local departments, it has set up “e-printing” service points for certificates of origin in convenience service centers, banks, and communities throughout the province, allowing foreign trade enterprises to print their certificates of origin conveniently and enjoy the benefits. Over the past four years, nearly 600 “e-printing” service points have been deployed, including a network covering the city, county, and township levels in Wenzhou. In addition, Hangzhou Customs has promoted the application of the “China Customs Preferential Certificate of Origin Service Platform” and carried out the “Red Boat Enterprise Navigation, Tax Policy Seeking Enterprises” service activity, effectively bridging the “last mile” for enterprises to enjoy the policy dividends of the free trade agreement. A relevant official from the Hangzhou Customs Tariff Department stated that, going forward, Hangzhou Customs will focus on the actual needs of foreign trade enterprises within its jurisdiction, further increasing policy promotion and targeted outreach for free trade agreements such as RCEP through policy briefings and the “Red Boat Enterprise Navigation” service platform. This will promote the expansion and effectiveness of the approved exporter system and RCEP back-to-back certificates of origin, enabling more foreign trade enterprises to conveniently enjoy the policy benefits brought by free trade agreements and helping them better integrate into the RCEP market.