China has signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) deal that spans 15 countries and 2.2 billion people.

The deal includes several of the region's heaviest economic hitters aside from China, including Japan and South Korea. New Zealand and Australia are also partners, as are Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam in Southeast Asia.

The trade agreement was first proposed in 2012 as a way to create one of the world's largest free-trade zones. The deal will play an important role in building the region's resilience through inclusive and sustainable post-pandemic economic recovery process. William Reinsch, a trade expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies said, that the agreement could have consequences in the long term, and added that China's involvement is a sign of its willingness to play a constructive role, despite its aggressive actions in the South China Sea, Hong Kong, and elsewhere.

Others noted that the deal was further evidence of Asia's growing power. Economists at HSBC said that the agreement signals that Asia keeps pushing ahead with trade liberalization even as other regions have become more skeptical.