THE joint statement between China and Malaysia in June 2024 reaffirmed their commitment to continue promoting the high-quality implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement, and to accelerate the Asean-China Free Trade Area 3.0.
RCEP came into effect on Jan 1, 2021, which aims to enhance Asean's collaboration within members by expanding and strengthening their participation. In aggregate, these participating nations represent 30% of the global population, and account for almost 30% world gross domestic product (GDP).