The trade pact was signed by 10 ASEAN members and their five partner countries on November 2020 on the sidelines of the 37th  ASEAN Summit chaired by Vietnam. It will come into effect 60 days after it is ratified by at least six ASEAN members and three other signatory countries.

As of November 2, six ASEAN nations, including Vietnam, and four signatories - China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand - had submitted documents ratifying the agreement to the ASEAN Secretary-General.

The RCEP agreement taking effect from January next year is expected to multilateralise free trade agreements that ASEAN signed with partner countries, harmonise commitments and regulations in the trade pacts, maximise economic interests, particularly origin principle and trade facilitation, and strengthen regional supply chains and economic recovery in the post-pandemic period.

The agreement, gathering the 10 ASEAN member nations and Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand and the Republic of Korea, will cover a market of 2.2 billion people, accounting for about 30 percent of the world’s population, and a total GDP of 26.2 trillion USD.