Interview: RCEP curtails adverse trend in multilateral trade, says Australian economist

SYDNEY, June 7 (Xinhua) -- The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) has subdued the adverse trend in multilateral trade and is beneficial to the global economy, said an Australian economist.

"The U.S. decoupling, or de-risking strategies, now threaten global prosperity and growth as well as international political security," said Peter Drysdale, head of the East Asian Bureau of Economic Research and East Asia Forum at the Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University.

The RCEP, fully effective for all 15 member countries since Friday, is "a hugely important initiative in support of trade openness and inclusiveness," Drysdale added.

The RCEP is not only the world's largest free trade agreement, but also a living economic and technological cooperation agreement with built-in ministerial and leaders-level meetings, the economist said, calling it a "no ordinary free trade agreement."

Signs of growth of confidence in trade between China and its regional partners have been seen, "but the potential is much greater," he noted.

RCEP might not be as advanced as other regional agreements in some respects, but it has the best rules of origin arrangements among free trade agreements and that promotes supply chain resilience and openness, he added.