The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a free trade agreement (FTA) between the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and their five FTA partners: China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand. It was signed on November 15, 2020, after seven years of negotiations.The RCEP aims to promote economic integration and cooperation among its member countries by reducing barriers to trade and investment, including tariffs and other non-tariff measures. It also covers issues related to intellectual property, e-commerce, and investment, among others. The RCEP is the world's largest FTA in terms of the number of participating countries and represents a total of 2.2 billion people, or 30% of the world's population, and a combined GDP of around $26.2 trillion, or about 30% of the global economy.