China is taking the lead in expanding global trade as the world's biggest trade pact reaches the minimum number of ratifications, leaving behind an increasingly protectionist United States, said a recent report of the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), comprising 15 member countries including China, will take effect on Jan. 1, 2022.

First signed in November 2020 after eight years of negotiations, the RCEP will not only expand trade for around 30 percent of the world's population but further open up China to the world, said the report.

"With the U.S. really struggling with its own policies ... and not speaking about market access, it seems it's all about protectionism," the report said.