During various negotiations between China and India, tariffs have been abolished on many items for trade. Recently China has proposed to abolish tariffs on more commodities.
Both China and India are RCEP member countries, but India is less likely to benefit from the abolition of tariffs under the RCEP as China already has trade surplus with India.
Many RCEP partner countries, including ASEAN with 10 member countries, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, have been pressuring India to take the decision as soon as possible on China's proposal.
The RCEP agreement can be reached by the RCEP member countries by the end of this year, for which a 3-member team has been formed.
The RCEP could become the largest free trade area in the world after this agreement comes into effect as its share as member countries is 25 percent in global GDP, 30 percent in global trade, 26 percent in global foreign direct investment and total 45 percent of the global population.
