The legal status of the CEPA between the Mainland and Hong Kong of China

Abstract

The nature of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) is a free trade agreement under the framework of the WTO. For the purpose of clarifying the legal status of the CEPA and the future agreements between the Mainland and other separate customs territories of China, four options are brought forward: (1) To revise the PRC Foreign Trade Law, (2) to make amendment to the Basic Law of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China, (3) to have a special law on the conclusion of the interregional agreements, or (4) to amend the PRC Constitution.