The Mainland and Macau Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement, or Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) for short, is an economic agreement between the

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...

of the

Macau Special Administrative Region Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a popu ...

and the Central People's Government on October 18, 2003. A similar agreement, known as the

Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement The Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement, or Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) for short, is an economic agreement between the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Central People ...

, was signed between the

of the

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta ...

and the

Central People's Government The State Council, constitutionally synonymous with the Central People's Government since 1954 (particularly in relation to local governments), is the chief administrative authority of the People's Republic of China. It is chaired by the p ...

of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

, signed on June 29, 2003. Regular supplements with further liberalisations have been signed between the Mainland and Macau governments. The most recent, Supplement VIII (also referred to as CEPA VIII), was signed in December 2011 and enters into effect on 1 April 2012. The two agreements and additional supplements were signed in the Chinese language. The Chinese text is therefore the authoritative text.

General features

CEPA is a

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econ ...

agreement Agreement may refer to: Agreements between people and organizations * Gentlemen's agreement, not enforceable by law * Trade agreement, between countries * Consensus, a decision-making process * Contract, enforceable in a court of law ** Meeting ...

pursuant to which qualifying products, companies and residents of Macau enjoy preferential access to the mainland Chinese market. Many of the preferences surpass the concessions made by China upon its accession to the

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and ...

. Under CEPA VIII, 43 service sectors enjoy preferential access to the Mainland and all Macau products (that are permitted to be imported into China) are exempt from import duties.

Objectives and implementation

CEPA is stated to have the following objectives: "To strengthen trade and investment cooperation between Mainland China and Macau and promote joint development of the two sides, through the implementation of the following measures : #progressively reducing or eliminating tariffs and non-tariff barriers on substantially all the trade in goods between the two sides; #progressively achieving liberalization of trade in services through reduction or elimination of substantially all discriminatory measures; #promoting trade and investment facilitation." The Annexes to CEPA elaborate measures to achieve these objectives and detail how products and service providers can qualify for the CEPA benefits, including: # Arrangement for Implementation of Zero Tariff for Trade in Goods (Annex 1); # Rules of Origin for Trade in Goods (Annex 2); # Procedures for the Issuing and Verification of Certificates of Origin (Annex 3); # Specific Commitments on

Liberalization of Trade Economic liberalization (or economic liberalisation) is the lessening of government regulations and restrictions in an economy in exchange for greater participation by private entities. In politics, the doctrine is associated with classical liber ...

in Services (Annex 4); # Definition of “Service Supplier” and Related Requirements (Annex 5); and # Trade and Investment Facilitation (Annex 6).

General features

Objectives and implementation

See also

External links