RCEP is the proposed mega-regional Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between 16 Asia-Pacific countries.(ASEAN+6)
It includes India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and the 10-member ASEAN bloc (10 members of ASEAN countries are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, The Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam).
The RCEP has chapters on intellectual property, investment, goods, services, telecommunications and e-commerce, and goods and services.
RCEP is viewed as an alternative to the TPP trade agreement, which includes the United States but excludes China.
In the absence of the TPP, the RCEP will emerge as the largest regional trading bloc in the world, accounting for nearly 45 per cent of the world’s population and with a combined gross domestic product of $21.3 trillion.