General

How to study and judge the foreign trade situation this year? How do you view the increase in the number of empty containers in ports? Are there any new "big gift packages" for foreign trade enterprises? How to prevent the invasion of alien species caused by "alien pets"?

On the 20th, at a series of themed press conferences on "Opening remarks from authoritative departments", the Director of the General Administration of Customs Yu Jianhua, the Deputy Director of the General Administration of Customs Sun Yuning, and the Director of the General Office of the General Administration of Customs Zhao Zenglian attended and responded to the above hot issues.

Response: How to judge the foreign trade situation this year

——"A stable start and a positive trend"

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the total import and export volume of goods in January and February was 6176.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 0.8%. Among them, exports reached 3493.6 billion yuan, an increase of 0.9%; Import reached 2683.3 billion yuan, down 2.9%.

Yu Jianhua analyzed that in terms of scale, the total export value in the first two months hit a record high, increasing by 0.9%, better than expected. The total value of imports and exports exceeded 6 trillion yuan, which is the second time in history.

In terms of composition, during the epidemic period, China took the lead in resuming work and production, and the export of epidemic prevention materials and "residential economy" products increased significantly, raising the foreign trade base. The General Administration of Customs has calculated that if the "one-time factor" is excluded, the import and export growth in the first two months of this year will exceed 10%.

From a trend perspective, based on weekly monitoring, China's foreign trade imports and exports have significantly stabilized since February, with a month-on-month growth of more than 15% in the last week of February compared to the previous week. From the perspective of neighboring countries, China's foreign trade performance is good compared to neighboring economies that have published data.

Yu Jianhua introduced that the customs is closely monitoring the development of foreign trade since March. "Our overall view is that the start is stable and the trend is positive."

Respond to empty containers at the port

——"The international market is still optimistic about our export capacity in the next stage"

The media reported that the number of empty containers at the port has increased. In this regard, Yu Jianhua said that the problem of empty containers is due to the excessive release of new containers in the previous period, the low domestic storage costs, and the large number of empty containers returning in the short term after the easing of the epidemic abroad, as well as seasonal laws.

Yu Jianhua believes that a large number of empty containers are poised to be shipped in China's ports, reflecting to some extent that the international market is still optimistic about our export capacity in the next stage. According to the latest data from the General Administration of Customs, the volume of export containers has continued to grow since late February.

Is there a new "big gift package" for foreign trade enterprises

——"Research new policy measures aimed at the pain points, difficulties, and bottlenecks of enterprises"

In 2022, the General Administration of Customs issued 23 supportive measures to assist enterprises in their rescue efforts. Local customs departments have refined these measures into more than 1300 specific measures based on local realities. Yu Jianhua introduced that these measures have been welcomed by business entities and have achieved expected results.

"We are evaluating 23 measures, and we will keep whatever we can to ensure the continuity of the policy. On this basis, we will study the pain points, difficulties and blockages of current enterprises through research, and also study new policy measures." Yu Jianhua said that the new policy measures mainly consider the following four aspects.

First, smooth import and export logistics. Promote the construction of smart customs, support the construction of smart ports and smart borders, accelerate and increase efficiency through scientific and technological means, and promote more convenient cross-border logistics.

The second is to optimize the port business environment. Deeply promote the construction of a "single window" for international trade and provide enterprises with "one-stop" services for customs clearance.

Third, reduce enterprise costs. Help enterprises make full use of tariff preferences in free trade agreements such as RCEP to reduce costs in the import and export process.

Fourth, support the development of new industries. Innovate the cross-border e-commerce customs supervision mode to achieve accurate supervision and rapid customs clearance. Support the development of new business forms such as market procurement trade and bonded maintenance.

Respond to how to prevent the invasion of alien species caused by "alien pets"

——"Don't let personal affection turn into harm to nature."

This year, the No. 1 central document "named" and "alien pets" for the first time, clearly cracked down on the illegal introduction of alien species, implemented the key actions to prevent and control major invasive species, and strengthened the standardized management of "alien pets" trade and release.

Zhao Zenglian, the general office director of the General Administration of Customs, explained that "exotic pets" are no longer simple living pets, but have other hidden worries. Mainly reflected in three aspects: First, "alien pets" are mostly alien species, threatening biological diversity. The second is that "alien pets" threaten the safety of agricultural, forestry, animal husbandry, and fishing production. The third is that "alien favourites" threaten the health and safety of the people.

Zhao Zenglian further introduced that some "exotic pets" are aggressive, such as salamanders and wild harvest ants seen on the Internet, and some "exotic pets" even have highly toxic effects, such as giant centipedes and poison dart frogs. Some "exotic pets" carry a variety of bacteria, which can threaten the safety of the people's lives.

In response, the General Administration of Customs has taken a series of measures to strictly prevent the invasion of exotic species such as "alien pets". One is to strengthen port inspection, and the customs uses technical means such as X-ray machines and CT machines to prevent "exotic pets" from entering the country with mail. The second is to carry out special actions, such as the "National Green Shield" special action and the comprehensive treatment of cross-border e-commerce delivery "hetero pet", and resolutely crack down on criminal gangs that illegally introduce foreign species such as "hetero pet". Third, strengthen joint prevention and control. Fourth, create an atmosphere of social co governance, where no one buys, no one sells.

Zhao Zenglian issued a call to protect biosafety, everyone has a responsibility, and everyone can do it. I hope that "heterophiles" fans do not buy illegally introduced small animals, and do not let personal affection turn into harm to nature.

Responding to the main challenges of customs regulation

——"Large trade scale, multiple trade forms, high regulatory requirements, and high security pressure"

In 2022, China's total foreign trade value exceeded 42 trillion yuan, and the import and export cargo volume under customs supervision nationwide reached 4.8 billion tons. There were 13 million freight ships, planes, trains, and other means of transportation, and 320 million cross-border express mails were supervised.

"For example, if we load our import and export goods last year onto a train, they can circle the Earth's equator 30 times end-to-end. If we connect the containers we supervised last year, they can be arranged in two rows between the Earth and the moon." Yu Jianhua mentioned that this is China's demeanor as the world's largest trading country in goods, China's contribution to the world, and also the responsibility and challenge of customs supervision.

Yu Jianhua believes that China has a large trade scale, multiple trade forms, high regulatory requirements, and high security pressure. How to achieve "manageable, open, and fast access" is the main challenge faced by customs supervision.

Yu Jianhua emphasized that challenges are the driving force for customs reform and innovation. The General Administration of Customs will digitize, automate, and intelligentize customs clearance and management, continuously improving regulatory efficiency; Strengthen the three defense lines of "overseas, port, and domestic", build a customs operation mechanism of "response, echo, and response", and create a comprehensive and full-chain regulatory system; At the same time, it is necessary to resolutely eliminate the black sheep of "relying on customs to eat customs", and comprehensively upgrade the modernization of the customs governance system and capacity.