The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership has successfully integrated 15 Asia-Pacific economies into one of the world's most dynamic industry and supply chain networks. It is an indispensable force for advancing regional economic integration and a new form of economic globalization.

However, RCEP now finds itself at a critical juncture where standing still means falling behind.

In a world of growing uncertainty, we face a critical choice: allow geopolitical fragmentation to undermine the hard-won unified market, or bolster our resilience through higher-level regional integration.

A development-oriented approach is the defining feature of the RCEP.

But changes in the geopolitical landscape are exerting serious shocks on the region. Most RCEP economies are highly dependent on external energy supplies. In 2025, more than 80 percent of the crude oil imports to the RCEP region passed through the Strait of Hormuz.

According to projections by the Asian Development Bank, if the Iran conflict continues into the third quarter of 2026, economic growth in developing Asia-Pacific economies will slow significantly.

A more uncertain external environment makes it imperative for the region to strengthen cooperation. Cooperation can help address the uncertainty stemming from frequent geopolitical conflicts.

RCEP members can deepen industry chain coordination and promote the regionalization of energy and manufacturing supply chains, thereby reducing dependence on single maritime routes and strengthening supply chain security. RCEP should remain firmly focused on development, and non-economic factors should not be introduced into the agreement.

From a global perspective, the greatest advantage of China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations lies in the certainty of growth.

If ASEAN becomes the world's fourth-largest economy and China becomes the world's largest in the coming decade, the global economic landscape will be profoundly reshaped.

RCEP has become an important force for advancing global free trade.

From 2021 to 2025, intra-RCEP trade increased from $4.9 trillion to $6.1 trillion, a rise of 24 percent.

Driven by both trade and investment, the RCEP region recorded average annual GDP growth of 3.6 percent from 2021 to 2024, contributing nearly 40 percent to world economic growth.

To build on this momentum, RCEP rules must be fully implemented.

Members should accelerate the implementation of provisions on digital payments and electronic invoices, deepening cooperation in emerging fields such as artificial intelligence and financial technology.

Furthermore, the regional division of labor must be optimized. In 2024, trade in intermediate goods accounted for more than 68 percent of total RCEP trade — significantly above the global average.

Against the backdrop of rising protectionism, it is necessary to accelerate the establishment of an RCEP supply chain emergency coordination mechanism to build a regional safeguard for essential goods.

To reach its full potential, RCEP should promote deeper opening of the regional markets. Members should strive to raise the region's zero-tariff coverage to more than 95 percent within the next five years.

Trade in services is a priority. This calls for an early transition from a "positive-list" to a "negative-list" approach for services trade and investment.

Rule upgrading is equally vital. The review of rules of origin should be completed and higher-standard rules in digital trade and climate change introduced. Furthermore, RCEP should achieve a breakthrough in membership expansion.

The accession of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China to the RCEP would further enhance its international influence. As a free trade port with a common law system and mature financial services, Hong Kong could help ASEAN members address financing gaps. We look forward to a substantive breakthrough on this issue in 2026.

Finally, the RCEP Support Unit should be upgraded into a formal secretariat to move the region from "soft constraints" toward "binding governance".

Strengthening RCEP requires upholding the principle of ASEAN centrality. By promoting the effective connectivity between China's vast market and the RCEP market, we have created a stabilizing anchor for the region.

From 2021 to 2024, China contributed more than 70 percent to RCEP's economic growth. The country will continue to support RCEP through high-level opening-up, accelerating the fulfillment of tariff reduction commitments and reducing tariffs on intermediate goods.

In this context, the Hainan Free Trade Port serves as a strategic gateway. It is well positioned to take the lead in fully implementing RCEP and the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0, becoming a new frontier of institutional opening-up.

The RCEP has proven that the greater the external uncertainty, the stronger the region's internal resolve must be; and the greater the pressure, the more firmly the region must commit to openness and cooperation.

At a time when geopolitical conflicts and protectionism are increasingly intertwined, it is all the more important for us to work together to strengthen a development-oriented RCEP, and to respond to global uncertainty with the certainty of development.

The author is the president of the China Institute for Reform and Development and the president of the Hainan Institute for Free Trade Port Studies.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

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