Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Chile and Bangladesh Seek to Join RCEP Trade Bloc

Southeast Asian officials said Thursday that Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Chile, and Bangladesh have expressed interest in joining the China-backed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the world’s largest trade bloc.

RCEP currently includes China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and all 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Officials, meeting on the sidelines of the ASEAN trade and economic ministers’ gathering in Malaysia this week, said they had no objections to admitting new applicants and would work toward integrating the four economies into the bloc.

“We certainly support all countries that are keen to join RCEP,” Indonesia’s Deputy Trade Minister Daya Roro Esti Widya Putri told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysian Trade Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz said any decision on new membership would be discussed at the leaders’ summit in October—the first such gathering in five years. He noted earlier that RCEP also plans to advance the trade pact signed in 2020 during the same summit.

Some analysts have described RCEP as a potential buffer against U.S. tariffs, though its provisions are often seen as weaker than those of other regional trade agreements due to competing interests among members.