With the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) expected to take effect next year, China steps up building its first free trade port in Hainan. It shows how Beijing is preparing to capitalize and contribute to the success of the world’s largest free trade agreement (FTA).

China and the U.S. need to figure out intellectually what they are vying for. They do not have territorial disputes in the ordinary sense, nor are they in binary ideological opposition of the kind seen during the Cold War era.

The country is confident that it will meet the emerging trade partnership’s high standards through reforms at home. But the U.S. and others may attempt to derail it through the “poison pill” clause of the USMCA.

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership consists of all the major and middle Pacific Rim powers, save for one - the U.S. The assertiveness Asian countries are showing is indicative of the ongoing gravity shift in economic and political clout.

The recently signed RCEP is adaptable to the circumstances of its participants and is not “one size fits all.” It’s a major breakthrough in bringing together the 10 ASEAN members and five key players in the region.

The agreement marks the emergence of constructive rules for the entire East Asia region. The parties no longer look to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, with its burdensome provisions, as a model template.

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership was set to become the world’s largest free trade agreement. But India’s withdrawal from it has thrown the negotiated trade bloc into imbalance and has underscored India’s qualms with China’s trade practices.

As the WTO-led multilateral trading system has weakened, free trade areas are driving the process of laying down international rules.

While the Trump administration has announced withdrawal from TPP, in favor of bilateral economic cooperation and negotiation to protect US interests, it does not necessarily mean the US has given up its quest for dominancy in global trade rule-making. Meanwhile, other TPP signatories, including Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, are not willing to let the deal fall by the wayside. That means the spirit of TPP lives on even if the agreement itself does not.

If you ignore the dragon, it will eat you. If you try to confront the dragon it will overpower you. If you ride the dragon, you will take advantage of its might and power.