An employee at Zhejiang Xingxing Refrigeration Co Ltd poses for a photo while holding a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership certificate of origin to the Philippines. [Photo/WeChat account: tzfb001]

Taizhou Customs issued its first Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) certificate of origin to the Philippines on June 2, with the agreement taking effect in the country on the same day.

The recipient of the certificate – Zhejiang Xingxing Refrigeration Co Ltd – saw its exports - 1,008 units of refrigerators worth 770,000 yuan ($108,235.76) - bounded for the Philippines exempted from import tariffs valued at around 39,000 yuan.

Pei Junhua, deputy head of foreign trade at Xingxing, said that the company has been exporting to the Philippines for 20 years, making it one of its most important markets in Southeast Asia, adding that the favorable tax policy under the RCEP will bring new opportunities for the company to consolidate its position in the Philippine market.

The Taizhou-based company exports over 40 million yuan worth of freezers annually to the Philippines, and the RCEP will help it save nearly 3 million yuan in tariffs per year, according to Pei.

The RCEP came into force on the first day of 2022 and is a mega free trade agreement involving Australia, China, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). It is the world's largest free trade bloc, covering about 30 percent of the world's population as well as 30 percent of the world's economic and trade volume.