General

On March 20th, a series of themed press conferences were held on the "Opening of the Authority's Speech". Yu Jianhua, Director of the General Administration of Customs, studied and judged the foreign trade situation this year, pointing out that, in comparison, China's competitive advantage remains significant. With the overall improvement of China's foreign trade economic situation, the momentum of a smooth opening of foreign trade in the first two months is expected to maintain. He is confident that China's foreign trade economy will achieve the goal of promoting stability and improving quality this year.

In response to the "increase in the number of empty containers at the port", Yu Jianhua said that there were reasons for the excessive release of new containers in the previous period, the low cost of domestic stockpiling, and a large number of empty containers returning in the short term after the relief of the foreign epidemic, as well as seasonal laws. 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 China's export capacity in the next stage.

"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 good," Yu Jianhua said.

In terms of scale, the total export value in the first two months hit a record high, increasing by 0.9%, better than expected. 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. 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 economy has significantly stabilized since February, with a year-on-year growth of over 15% in the last week of February compared to the previous week.

However, at present, foreign trade is indeed facing many difficulties and challenges, and the weakening of foreign demand is of the greatest concern. High global inflation and sluggish growth in major economies have continued to impact global trade. The World Trade Organization recently predicted that global trade in goods was weak in the first quarter of this year, with an expected annual growth of only 1%. In addition, some countries strongly promote "decoupling and chain breaking", geopolitical risks, and recent fluctuations in the financial markets of some Western countries have had an impact on the global trade environment, which are also external challenges to promoting stability and improving the quality of China's foreign trade economy.

"However, we also need to see a positive and optimistic side." Yu Jianhua said that in the first two months, more enterprises entered the field of foreign trade in terms of business entities, and the customs newly registered 46000 foreign trade business entities, indicating that everyone's confidence is accumulating and recovering. In terms of orders, according to monitoring, the proportion of enterprises with increased export orders has continuously increased. In terms of new kinetic energy, the total exports of electric vehicles, lithium batteries, and solar batteries increased by 60%. The import and export of cross-border e-commerce increased by 15.8%. In terms of trade diversification, China's import and export to countries along the "the Belt and Road" increased by more than 10%, and its total import and export to other RCEP members increased by more than 3%.

In response to the "increase in the number of empty containers at the port", Yu Jianhua said that there were reasons for the excessive release of new containers in the previous period, the low cost of domestic stockpiling, and the short-term massive return of empty containers after the relief of the foreign epidemic, which also had seasonal regularity.

"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 customs data, since late February, the volume of export containers has continued to grow." Yu Jianhua said.

He said that overall, the foreign trade situation is still grim and complex, but it also contains many opportunities, and the difficulties are more global. In comparison, China's competitive advantage remains significant. With the overall improvement of China's economic situation, the momentum of a smooth start to foreign trade in the first two months is expected to continue. Therefore, we are confident that China's foreign trade economy will achieve the goal of promoting stability and improving quality this year.

Research new policy measures to address the pain points and difficulties of enterprises

The key to the development of foreign trade is the business entity. Last year, the customs introduced a number of measures to promote the stability and quality of foreign trade, assist enterprises in bailing out and reducing costs, and achieved the expected results.

In terms of ensuring smooth flow, compared with some major trading countries, China's import and export of goods has not been hindered by the epidemic, and customs clearance is faster and more convenient. In December 2022, the overall customs clearance time for imports and exports nationwide was 67% and 92% shorter than in 2017.

In terms of cost reduction, we supported enterprises in enjoying various tax preferential policies. Last year alone, we reduced and refunded taxes of 285 billion yuan for foreign trade enterprises.

In terms of excellent services, we carried out the "policy of sending customs officers to their doorstep", innovated regulatory models such as "releasing bulk commodities before inspection", and "green channel" for agricultural and food products, and transferred 87 commodity codes out of the legal inspection directory, continuously optimizing the port business environment.

Yu Jianhua introduced that the General Administration of Customs is evaluating the 23 measures previously introduced and will retain whatever can be retained to ensure the continuity of the policy. On this basis, we need to study new policy measures to address the pain points, difficulties, and bottlenecks of current enterprises through research. It mainly considers four aspects, including smooth import and export logistics, optimizing the port business environment, reducing enterprise costs, and supporting the development of new industries.

Optimizing Facilities and Establishing Platforms to Promote Unicom to Continuously Optimize the Business Environment at Ports

The port business environment is directly related to the vital interests and sense of gain of the majority of business entities, and has been widely concerned by all sectors of society for some time. Over the past period of time, with close cooperation from various aspects, the customs has launched a series of innovative measures to optimize the business environment at ports, which have also achieved certain results: shorter customs clearance time, lower customs clearance costs, and more convenient customs clearance procedures.

"Optimizing the business environment at ports can only be better, without the best, and is always on the way." Zhao Zenglian, director of the General Office of the Customs General Administration, said that the next step will be to continue to introduce new and powerful measures, which can be summarized in 15 words: optimizing facilities, building platforms, promoting connectivity, strengthening cooperation, and improving efficiency.

First, optimize port facilities. The customs is working with relevant parties to accelerate the expansion and construction projects of important border ports and further improve the customs clearance capacity of border ports. We are guiding Hainan Province to implement the port layout plan for free trade ports, accelerate the construction of free trade ports, and provide port facilities for the next scheduled closure and operation.

The second is to build a service platform. Optimize services related to "customs clearance+logistics" and "foreign trade+finance", and provide enterprises with services such as information query for the entire process of customs clearance and logistics, export credit insurance processing, cross-border settlement and financing.

Third, promote internal and external connectivity. Actively promote the reopening of land border ports. We will further promote the development of cross-border trains such as China Europe Express and the Western New Land Sea Passage, and support the development of multimodal transport such as "sea rail intermodal transport" in various regions.

Fourth, strengthen international cooperation. We will vigorously promote international cooperation in "smart customs, smart borders, and smart access", coordinate the construction of smart ports, steadily promote the "green channel" for rapid customs clearance of agricultural and sideline products, promote the "single window" cooperation between China and countries along the "the Belt and Road", and promote the exchange and sharing of documents related to cross-border trade.

Fifth, improve customs clearance efficiency. Based on the preliminary evaluation, we will continue to deepen the pilot reform of customs clearance facilitation such as "ship side direct delivery", "arrival direct loading", and "combined port". Guide all localities to publish the port customs clearance process and the operation time limit of the main links based on the actual situation, stabilize the customs clearance time within a reasonable range, and provide relatively stable customs clearance expectations for the majority of enterprises.

Continuously improve cross-border e-commerce import and export return measures

Cross-border e-commerce is closely related to people's lives, and the development momentum of cross-border e-commerce has been very rapid in recent years. According to data, in the decade of the new era, cross-border e-commerce has entered a period of rapid development. Over the past five years, imports and exports have increased from 1 trillion yuan in 2018 to 2.11 trillion yuan in 2022. More and more goods made in China have entered the international consumer goods market through cross-border e-commerce.

It is reported that 165 comprehensive cross-border e-commerce pilot zones have been established nationwide, and have become an important carrier and platform for cross-border e-commerce development, covering 31 provinces and municipalities.

Sun Yuning, Deputy Director of the General Administration of Customs, introduced that cross-border e-commerce is different from traditional trade methods and characteristics, and it presents the characteristics of fragmentation, massive, and informatization. The data shows that the number of import lists for cross-border e-commerce is 56 times the number of goods declaration forms in the same period, and the average value of each form is less than three thousandths of that of goods declaration forms. "During the regulatory process, we have seized prohibited substances such as firearms and explosives, drugs, controlled psychotropic substances, intellectual property rights violations, and" exotic pets. ". "It should be said that these new situations have posed challenges to customs supervision."

He said that in the next stage, the customs will continue to adhere to the regulatory philosophy of "innovation, inclusiveness, prudence, and coordination", adhere to the principle of standardization in development and development in standardization, and mainly do a good job in two aspects. On the one hand, efforts should be made to strengthen supervision. Use intelligent verification methods to prevent cross-border e-commerce smuggling by verifying the authenticity of customs declaration documents; Strengthen cooperation with cross-border e-commerce platform enterprises, move forward the risk prevention threshold, and further reduce enterprise operational risks and customs regulatory risks; Widely carry out the application of commodity barcode, strengthen the traceability management of commodities, and ensure consumers' peace of mind; Continue to pay attention to overseas food safety issues and timely release early warning information.

On the other hand, it is necessary to "take practical measures" in terms of excellent service. Support cross-border e-commerce enterprises to pay taxes electronically and facilitate online processing by enterprises; Promote the "inspection before loading" of export LCL goods, further improve logistics efficiency and reduce enterprise costs; Strengthen data analysis services to provide strong expected guidance for high-quality development of new industries; Optimize the overseas warehouse declaration process to serve enterprises to further expand exports; Continuously improve import and export return measures to address the "worries behind" of enterprises and consumers

Strictly prevent the invasion of exotic species such as "alien pets"

At present, many young people are keen on raising "alien pets". At the same time, this year's No. 1 central document included "alien pets" for the first time. What is "exotic pet" and what harm will it bring?

In response, Zhao Zenglian said that the reason for being called "heteropets" is mainly due to some special animals that are different from traditional companion animals such as cats and dogs. "To say it's special, it's mainly because some small animals that have moved us once have become pets, such as snakes, lizards, horned frogs, and so on. These" exotic pets "have strange looks, colorful colors, and are different from others.".

"The No. 1 central document first mentioned 'alien pets', which reflects that' alien pets' are no longer simple living pets, but have other hidden worries." Zhao Zenglian said, mainly reflected in three aspects: first, these "alien pets" are mostly alien species, which threaten biological diversity. Once some "exotic pets" escape or are abandoned to the natural world, they will rapidly reproduce and spread without natural enemies, threatening the local ecosystem. The second is to threaten the safety of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and fishing production. Once some "exotic pets" arrive in nature, they often pose a huge threat to native species, and even lead to a sharp decline in native biological populations. Third, it threatens the health and safety of the people. Some "exotic pets" are aggressive, such as fire salamanders and wild harvest ants seen on the Internet, and some "exotic pets" are even highly toxic, such as giant centipedes and poison dart frogs. Some "exotic pets" carry a variety of germs that can threaten the lives of the people.

In response, the 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 to resolutely crack down on criminal gangs that illegally introduce exotic species such as "exotic pets". Third, strengthen joint prevention and control. Strengthen departmental cooperation internally to form a joint force in law enforcement; Strengthen external source control and compact the main and regulatory responsibilities of overseas competent departments. Fourth, create an atmosphere of social co governance, where no one buys, no one sells. Comprehensive use of the combination of "online+offline" methods to continuously strengthen publicity and education for mail and delivery enterprises and inbound passengers, and make every effort to strengthen the public's biosafety awareness.