This week saw the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), an unwieldy name for a vast new trading bloc that will cover 15 countries, including China, South Korea, Australia, Malaysia and Vietnam. Between them those countries account for a third of the world’s population, and 30% of global GDP. It will be the biggest single trade bloc in the world. How deep that integration turns out to be, and how much it will be dominated by China, and how much it boosts trade, remains to be seen. But there can be no question that it is a huge step towards dismantling trade barriers. Read More.
