General

At the regular policy briefing of the State Council held on April 23rd, Li Xingqian, Director of the Department of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Commerce, stated that the current focus of trade digitization is to promote the digitization of goods trade. The Ministry of Commerce is promoting the digitization of trade management and trade methods. At the same time, with a focus on improving the efficiency of the entire trade process, the Ministry of Commerce is actively researching and promoting the digital empowerment and upgrading of trade links, trade services, and trade entities to help enterprises reduce transaction costs.

Li Xingqian introduced that with the consent of the State Council, the Ministry of Commerce, together with relevant departments and local governments, has formulated a plan for the construction of a global trade digital navigation zone in the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area, which is China's first trade digital navigation zone. At the same time, the Ministry of Commerce also conducted research on the digital trade indicator system and held the Trade Digital Innovation and Development Forum at the 133rd Canton Fair.

Li Xingqian stated that in the next step, the Ministry of Commerce will focus on "four advancements": firstly, promoting the digitization of trade supply and procurement docking. While the Canton Fair is fully resuming offline physical exhibitions, the online platform has achieved normalized operation. To this end, the 133rd Canton Fair conducted more than 140 optimization services, continuously enhancing online functions, supporting enterprises in online promotion, product display, supply and procurement contact, and online and offline information sharing. In addition, various regions are actively developing digital exhibitions and "cloud exhibitions". The Ministry of Commerce will actively support relevant departments and take various measures to facilitate interactive exchanges and trade transactions among buyers, helping international trade enterprises expand trade opportunities and space.

The second is to promote the digitization of trade service platforms. Promote the enhancement of the "single window" function of international trade and strengthen the digital application of the entire trade chain. At present, some places have conducted active and effective explorations, such as Chongqing being piloting the application of electronic bill of lading systems to achieve electronic circulation of freight bill of lading processes through blockchain technology; Shenzhen has conducted multiple rounds of testing on the "electronic letter of credit" system, and has technically achieved electronic document settlement for import and export payments. At the same time, guide local governments to develop and integrate local characteristic application modules based on the standard version of the "single window" of international trade, and strive to implement "one-stop" application integration, thereby improving the efficiency of enterprise customs declaration and promoting cost reduction and efficiency increase.

The third is to promote the digitization of foreign trade infrastructure. Key support will be given to local and large enterprises in continuously accelerating the construction of smart ports and smart overseas warehouses, promoting safe and controllable automated loading and unloading, and the application of intelligent systems, improving the electronic circulation level of port operation documents, and promoting pilot data sharing and collaborative operation among ports, warehousing, freight forwarders, shipping companies, transportation enterprises, and international trade enterprises in some cities and regions of the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area, implementing full process intelligent management. For example, the Guangdong Maoming Port Logistics Collaborative Platform was officially launched and put into operation on April 6th. The Ministry of Commerce will actively promote the replication and promotion of mature experiences in these areas, "said Li Xingqian.

The fourth is to promote the construction of digital international rules for trade. China is applying to join CPTPP and DEPA, and actively conducting negotiations. In March of this year, the working group of China's accession to DEPA held its first consultation and exchanged views with member countries on topics such as paperless trade, domestic electronic transaction frameworks, logistics, electronic invoices, and electronic payments. At the same time, we support some provinces and cities to carry out international cooperation on trade digitization. In 2022, Zhejiang held the DEPA theme forum at the first Global Digital Trade Expo, and conducted in-depth exchanges on digital trade rules with experts from member countries. At present, Shenzhen, Suzhou and other places are exploring cross-border compatible docking of electronic invoice, digital identity and other systems.

Based on these practices, the Ministry of Commerce will continue to actively promote the negotiation process of international rules for trade digitization, support and guide local governments to further study international trade rules for elevation standards, and pilot international cooperation projects for trade digitization, "said Li Xingqian.