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) (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) and its five FTA partners (Australia, China,Japan, New Zealand and Republic of Korea).The 15 member countries account for about 30% of the world's population and 30% of global GDP, making it the largest trade bloc in history. It is the first free trade agreement among the East Asian China, Japan, and South Korea, three of the four largest economies in Asia. As of 3 December 2021, six of the ten ASEAN and all five of the non-ASEAN signatories have deposited their instruments of RCEP ratification with the Secretary-General of ASEAN. The trade agreement enters into force on toay, 1 January 2022.