All 15 members of the RCEP are planning to ratify the agreement before the end of this year and push for it to take effect on Jan 1.

One day recently, a huge consignment of canned pineapples arrived from the Philippines, the last signatory member to ratify the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement on June 2.

With the RCEP set to take effect in the Philippines — the last member of the bloc to ratify the agreement — on June 2, Ou Boqian, secretary-general of the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat, called on all RCEP participating countries to set up a secretariat for the pact as soon as possible and speed up the formalization of this mega treaty to reduce the risks posed by geopolitical uncertainties.

On Tuesday, the Philippines became the last signatory member to ratify the trade pact, involving 15 economies in the Asia-Pacific region, which came into effect on Jan 1 last year.

But the Senate failed to ratify the agreement in December 2021 before the free trade deal took effect on Jan 1, 2022.

In 2015, China became the 16th WTO member to ratify the Trade Facilitation Agreement.

He commended China for setting an example as one of the first signatories to ratify the agreement.

Participants in the Asia Economic and Entrepreneurship Summit, or AEES, encouraged Asian economies to ratify free-trade agreements－like the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP－as they will help sustain growth after the upheavals caused by the pandemic.

"Lee said Australia supports the RCEP and the CPTPP, noting that the country is moving to ratify the RCEP, and he commended Japan, China and Singapore for ratifying the world's largest free-trade pact.

"China supports ongoing efforts to conclude, ratify, implement and upgrade bilateral and regional trade agreements that benefit its consumers, enhance predictability and transparency for businesses, complement the multilateral trading system, and contribute to deeper economic integration in the Asia-Pacific region," he said.

Apart from their complementary trade structure, all the RCEP members' willingness to ratify the deal before the end of this year and push for it to take effect on Jan 1, 2022, will benefit more New Zealand businesses in China's lucrative market in the next growth stage, said Ren Xingzhou, a research fellow and former director-general of the Institute for Market Economy of the Development Research Center of the State Council.

In March, Ministry of Commerce announced China had become the first country to ratify the RCEP and in April submitted the instrument of ratification to the ASEAN secretary-general.

Once the signatory states ratify the agreement, it will notably reduce the cost of trade in the region, and thus help these countries increase their exports and actual incomes, Ma said.

And the Ministry of Commerce has said that all the signatory states have expressed their intention to ratify the deal within the year so that it can come into force on Jan 1,2022.

China has been working closely with 14 other partners to ratify the RCEP, which will establish the world's largest free trade zone, before the end of the year.

It has been working with 14 other partners to ratify the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement before the end of this year and push for it to take effect on Jan 1, 2022.

With China and its 14 partners planning to ratify the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement before the end of the year and the country is aiming to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, Xu Liuping, chairman of China FAW Group, a Changchun-based State-owned automaker, said these moves will pave the way for his company to ship more products it manufactures in China to other Asia-Pacific markets.

All 15 members of the RCEP are planning to ratify the agreement before the end of 2021 and push for its entry into force on Jan 1 next year, said Yu Benlin, director-general of the department of international economic and trade affairs at the Ministry of Commerce.

China has completed the approval and became the first country to ratify the agreement, he said, adding Thailand has also ratified the agreement.

The investment deal that China and the EU are seeking to ratify would also give European companies better access to the Chinese market, AFP said.

As a matter of fact, some US politicians have already vowed that TikTok must be fully controlled by American companies, or they will refuse to ratify the agreement.