China starts procedure to ratify RCEP
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The signing ceremony of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement is held via video conference in Hanoi, capital of Vietnam, Nov. 15, 2020. (File photo: Xinhua)

China has started the procedure of approving the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the world’s largest free-trade deal signed by 15 Asia-Pacific countries in November.

An official from China’s Commerce Ministry said on Wednesday that China is aiming for mid-2021 to complete all work needed to ratify the deal.

Yang Zhengwei, deputy director-general of the ministry's department of international trade and economic affairs, said he also looks into other signing countries to expatiate their national procedure, pushing the pact to be implemented as early as possible.