In the first 10 months of this year, ASEAN was Guangdong province's largest trading partner, according to customs statistics. Foreign trade between the two sides reached 865.14 billion yuan ($131.6 billion) - up 7.3 percent year-on-year.

Zhang said setting up a coordinated mechanism is the core for the Bay Area to further tap the huge market and major cities in the region should give full play to their specialties, such as Hong Kong's financial sector, Shenzhen's innovative technology and Guangzhou's service industry.

The first step is to study the business environment of RCEP member countries and promote the export of products, services and digital innovations, he said.
"After we've learned the local environment and business relations through research and trade, we could start investing in the entire industrial chain and establishing the real economy," he added.

But he pointed out the signing of the free trade deal has also presented new challenges. Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand have strong capabilities in scientific and technological innovation, advanced manufacturing, modern services, trade and shipping.

Foreign companies, a large component of the Bay Area economy, should adapt to the changes quickly as new business models and demand will emerge, he said.

"Manufacturers should speed up intelligent transformation and companies that are targeting the domestic market also need to keep up with the actual demand of high-quality development," Zhang explained.

Businesses from various sectors are equally upbeat about the Bay Area's future under the new agreement, with some planning to increase input into the region.

"With its impressive speed of new technology adoption and favorable policies from the (central) government, the Bay Area will play a pivotal role in the RCEP to help further lower transaction costs and improve logistics efficiency among its 15 partnership countries," said Henry Ko Hok-han, managing director of Flexport Asia Ltd, a digital freight forwarder.

So far, about 80 percent of the company's shipments are from Asia.
More importantly, Ko emphasized they could do this by setting up and "exporting" new standards, models and services, such as cross-border e-commerce, data-driven distribution, smart delivery systems and green technologies in logistics for sustainability.

Eyeing the new investment and growth opportunities created by the RCEP, Ko said Flexport Asia has decided to continue doubling down on the intra-Asia lanes and investing further in its data science and technology unit in Shenzhen.

The company also plans to expand its staff base by about 50 percent in the Bay Area, Shanghai and Singapore next year.