The Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (Chinese: 內地與香港關於建立更緊密經貿關係的安排), or Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA ; Chinese: 更緊密經貿關係), is an economic agreement between the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China and the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China, signed on June 29, 2003. A similar agreement, known as Mainland and Macao Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement, was signed between the Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China and the Central People's Government on October 18, 2003. Hong Kong (香港; Cantonese IPA: ; Jyutping: hoeng1 gong2; Yale: heūng góng; pinyin: Xiānggǎng; Wade-Giles: Hsiang-kang) is one of the two Special Administrative Regions of the Peoples Republic of China. ... The Central Peoples Government is the central government of the Peoples Republic of China in Beijing. ... June 29 is the 180th day of the year (181st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 185 days remaining. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Official language Portuguese, Chinese (Cantonese, Mandarin de facto) Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau-wah Area - Total - % water Ranked 191st 27. ... October 18 is the 291st day of the year (292nd in Leap years). ...

The two agreements were signed in the Chinese language, and therefore only the Chinese text is authentic. Excerpts below are translations of the original text. Chinese (written) language (pinyin: zhōngw n) written in Chinese characters The Chinese language (汉语/漢語, 华语/華語, or 中文; Pinyin: H nyǔ, Hu yǔ, or Zhōngw n) is a member of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. ...

In the “CEPA”, the "Mainland" refers to the customs territory of China. In this map of China, the light-coloured areas represent Mainland China, while yellow coloured area refers to Taiwan. ...

Objectives

Taken from the agreement between Hong Kong and mainland China:

" To strengthen trade and investment cooperation between Mainland China and Hong Kong and promote joint development of the two sides, through the implementation of the following measures : A fruit stand at a market. ... Investment or investing is a term with several closely-related meanings in finance and economics. ... In this map of China, the light-coloured areas represent Mainland China, while yellow coloured area refers to Taiwan. ...

1. progressively reduce or eliminate tariffs and non-tariff barrier on substantially all the trade in goods between the two sides;
2. progressively achieve liberalization of trade in services through reduction or elimination of substantially all discriminatory measures;
3. promote trade and investment facilitation. "

A tariff is a tax on imported goods. ... Barriers to international trade can take many forms, including: import duties import licenses export licenses import taxes tariffs agricultural subsidies non-tariff barriers However, most trade barriers all work on the same principle: the imposition of some sort of cost on trade that raises the price of the traded products. ...

See also

• Economy of the People's Republic of China
• Economy of Hong Kong
• Economy of Macau
• Mainland and Macao Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement
• Special administrative region
• Trade bloc

For the purpose of this article, the economies of the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau are considered separate from the rest of the Peoples Republic of China. ... The economy of Hong Kong has often been cited by people such as Milton Friedman and the Cato Institute as an example of the benefits of laissez-faire capitalism. ... The economy of Macau is based largely on tourism (including gambling) and textile and fireworks manufacturing. ... A Special Administrative Region (SAR) (Simplified Chinese: 特别行政区; Traditional Chinese: 特別行政區; pinyin: tèbié xíngzhèngqū; Cantonese IPA: /tɐk6piːt6 hɐŋ4tsɪŋ3kʰɵy1/; Jyutping: dak6bit6 hang4zing3keoi1; Yale: dahkbiht hàhngjingkeūi) is a political subdivision of the Peoples Republic of China. ... A trade bloc is a large free trade area or near-free trade area formed by one or more tax, tariff and trade agreements. ...

External links

• Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA)
• Mainland and Macao Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) (in English) (in other languages)