RCEP and the China-Japan-South Korea Industrial Chain: Obstacles and Pathways Forward_Vol. 3 No. 4 (JBM 2026)_Journal of Business and Marketing (ISSN: 3005-5717)

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RCEP and the China-Japan-South Korea Industrial Chain: Obstacles and Pathways Forward

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.62517/jbm.202609413

Author(s)

Chang Tingting

Affiliation(s)

School of Marxism, Chongqing Jiaotong University, Chongqing, China

Abstract

In force since January 2022, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) has given China, Japan, and South Korea - together over 80 per cent of RCEP's GDP - their first shared preferential framework. Yet deeper trilateral industrial-chain integration remains elusive. Drawing on the agreement's texts, recent utilisation data, and the post-2022 geopolitical environment, this paper identifies three structural constraints on collaboration: politicised economic relations under the US alliance system, industrial homogenisation in strategic sectors, and low enterprise uptake of preferential rules. It proposes three corresponding pathways: upgrading RCEP rules and accelerating the long-stalled China-Japan-Korea FTA; establishing standing trilateral supply-chain security dialogues; and embedding trilateral initiatives in broader multilateral frameworks, including selective convergence with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. The central claim is that RCEP establishes an institutional floor, not a ceiling: incremental deepening - not grand redesign - offers the most feasible route to a more integrated East Asian production network.

Keywords

RCEP; China-Japan-South Korea; Industrial Chain; Supply Chain; East Asian Integration

References

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