As part of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement, an ocean freight logistics channel has opened between Qingdao in east China's Shandong Province and the Japanese port city of Osaka. Transit times have halved for ships operating on the Qingdao-Osaka route and the voyage is now comparable to air freight, but at a lower cost. The RCEP covers about 30 percent of the world's population, 30 percent of global economic output and 30 percent of global foreign trade.