TOKYO, April 29 (Xinhua) -- Japan's upper house of parliament on Wednesday approved the world's largest free trade deal, which comprises 15 Asia-Pacific countries, including all the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which could feasibly enter into force later this year, will create a massive free trade zone covering roughly 30 percent of the world's gross domestic product, trade and population.

FIRST FTA UNITING JAPAN, CHINA, South KOREA

For Japan, it will be the first free trade agreement (FTA) that comprises both China, its largest trading partner and South Korea, its third largest trading partner.

The deal has been signed by Japan, China, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and the 10 members of ASEAN, with India, one of the original members, being absent from negotiations since November 2019.

Nevertheless, the pact will enter into force 60 days after it is ratified by at least six of the ASEAN members and three non-ASEAN countries.

As of Wednesday, China, Singapore and Thailand had completed all their procedures for ratification.

China, the world's second-largest economy, completed the ratification on April 15 this year, according to the ministry of commerce.

At the High-level Forum for RCEP Economic and Trade Cooperation held recently in China's eastern port city of Qingdao, Gao Yan, chair of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, said the RCEP would help realize zero tariffs on about a third of China's trade and significantly reduce the operating costs of enterprises in the region by facilitating trade and improving the business environment.

"It's estimated that by 2025, the RCEP can create additional growth of exports, foreign investment stock and GDP respectively by 10.4 percent, 2.6 percent and 1.8 percent in member countries," she added.

Singapore, for its part, ratified the RCEP agreement on April 9, 2021, and was the first RCEP participating country to complete the official ratification process.

Singapore's expeditious ratification of RCEP agreement signals the country's strong commitment to strengthening our trade and economic linkages with our partners, for the benefit of our businesses and people, Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing said.

"We look forward to our fellow RCEP Participating Countries doing likewise, to expedite the entry into force of the agreement," the minister added.

The parliament of Thailand, meanwhile, approved the RCEP agreement on Feb. 11, 2021.

"Some chapters and provisions of RCEP aim to create a conducive environment for e-commerce including protection of personal information and online consumers, as well as cooperation on cyber security," said Sansern Samalapa, Vice Minister of Commerce for Thailand, at a recent forum.

MINIMAL TARIFFS, BIG GROWTH

Once in effect, the deal will eliminate tariffs on over 90 percent of goods traded between its signatories over the next 20 years, and will also standardize rules on investment and intellectual property to promote free trade among members.

The first FTA will benefit both China and Japan with lower tariffs on high-technology equipment, including parts and components, as well as lower levies on machinery, electronic information technology, chemical products and a wide swathe of other key goods.

China's Vice Minister of Commerce, Wang Shouwen, has said that the RCEP will see tariffs eliminated on almost 30 percent of China's exports.

In addition, cost-effective valuations on imports of high-technology equipment, parts and components, as well as consumer goods, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment, will also benefit China.

As for Japan, the world's third-largest economy, which is in dire need of new post-pandemic economic drivers, the government projects the RCEP to boost its GDP by 2.7 percent, nearly doubling the 1.5 percent GDP growth Japan estimated to gain from the 11-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

In terms of new job creation brought by the accord, the Japanese government said it expects that around 570,000 new jobs will be created.

While acknowledging the RCEP's significance to the economy, a Japanese Foreign Ministry official told a recent press briefing that it "will cover around 46 percent of Japan's total trade, compared with about 15 percent in the case of the 11-member TPP and about 12 percent in the case of the Japan-EU EPA."

The RCEP groups together the 10 ASEAN members -- Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, plus Japan, China, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. Enditem

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