General

General Administration of Customs: Play the role of RCEP agreement in stabilizing foreign trade and foreign investment! On April 13th, Lv Daliang, spokesperson for the General Administration of Customs and Director of the Statistics and Analysis Department, introduced at a press conference that in the first quarter of this year, China's total imports and exports to the other 14 member countries of RCEP amounted to 3.08 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.3%, accounting for 31.2% of China's total foreign trade value during the same period, and an increase of 0.8 percentage points compared to the same period last year. Among them, exports reached 1.65 trillion yuan, an increase of 20.2%; Import reached 1.43 trillion yuan, a decrease of 4.5%. According to preliminary analysis by Lv Daliang, a spokesperson for the General Administration of Customs, the main characteristics are as follows:

Firstly, from the perspective of trading countries, in the first quarter, China's imports and exports to other RCEP member countries increased by over 10% to 7 countries, with imports and exports to Singapore, Laos, and Myanmar all growing by over 20%, reaching 45.8%, 37.8%, and 29%, respectively. The import and export scale to Japan and South Korea ranks first and second among China and other RCEP member countries, both exceeding 500 billion yuan.

Secondly, from the perspective of major commodities, in the first quarter, China's exports of mechanical and electrical products to other RCEP member countries reached 827.43 billion yuan, an increase of 16%. Among them, electrical equipment, mobile phones, and automotive components increased by 30.1%, 34.7%, and 19.8%, respectively; The export of labor-intensive products reached 296.21 billion yuan, an increase of 21.4%. During the same period, China imported iron ore of 142.64 billion yuan and energy products of 122.72 billion yuan from other RCEP member countries, an increase of 8% and 26.9% respectively.

Third, from the perspective of benefit sharing, in the first quarter, Chinese enterprises enjoyed a preferential import value of 18.25 billion yuan under RCEP, with a tax reduction of 480 million yuan. The main goods that enjoyed preferential import were plastics and their products, machinery and appliances and their parts, inorganic chemicals, etc; The export is 62.29 billion yuan, which can enjoy a tariff reduction of 930 million yuan from member countries. The main export commodities certified are clothing and clothing accessories, inorganic chemicals, plastics and their products. There are 2181 RCEP declaration of origin independently issued by 578 approved exporters nationwide, with a value of 2.05 billion yuan.

The spokesperson of the General Administration of Customs, Lv Daliang, pointed out that the customs firmly implements the deployment of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council to carry out the RCEP implementation work, and will further play the role of the agreement in stabilizing foreign trade and foreign investment, promoting industrial chain supply chain cooperation, and promoting high-quality development. The spokesperson of the General Administration of Customs, Lv Daliang, stated that the key work is to do the following:

One is to promote the thematic evaluation of the implementation effectiveness of RCEP related measures at customs across the country, fully solicit opinions and suggestions from on-site customs and foreign trade enterprises, explore the actual situation, and propose practical measures to further promote the high-quality implementation of RCEP.

The second is to focus on customs inspection and quarantine rules related to RCEP, improve relevant rules and regulations, upgrade customs operating systems, standardize and simplify customs procedures, continuously optimize customs clearance processes, improve efficiency, and reduce enterprise clearance costs.

The third is to increase the promotion of RCEP policies and regulations, establish a precise service system for RCEP technology and trade measures, guide enterprises to fully understand and utilize the policy dividends of RCEP, and assist enterprises in further expanding the RCEP market.