The State Council Press Office held a press conference at 10: 00 a.m. on Friday, January 14th, 2022, and invited Li Kuiwen, spokesman of the General Administration of Customs and director of the Statistics and Analysis Department, to introduce the import and export situation in 2021 and answer questions from reporters.
The picture shows the press conference. (photo by Liu Jian)
Xing Huina, deputy director and spokesperson of the State Council Information Office:
Good morning, media friends! Welcome to the press conference of the State Council Information Office. The State Council Office will hold a series of press conferences in the near future to release the main economic data in 2021. Today is the first one, which mainly introduces the import and export situation in 2021 and answers questions you are interested in. Present at today’s press conference is Mr. Li Kuiwen, spokesman of the General Administration of Customs and director of the Statistical Analysis Department.
Next, let’s invite Mr. Li Kuiwen to make a briefing.
Li Kuiwen, spokesperson of the General Administration of Customs and director of the Statistical Analysis Department:
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, journalists and friends! Welcome to today’s press conference. Nice to meet you again. Let me give a detailed report on China’s foreign trade import and export in 2021, and then answer your concerns.
In 2021, the CPC Central Committee with the Supreme Leader as the core calmly responded to the changes in the past century and the epidemic situation in the century, promoted deep-level reforms and high-quality development through high-level opening-up, maintained China’s global leading position in economic development and epidemic prevention and control, and achieved rapid growth in foreign trade import and export, with a new high in scale and steady improvement in quality. According to customs statistics, the total import and export value of China’s goods trade in 2021 was 39.1 trillion yuan, an increase of 21.4% over 2020. Among them, exports were 21.73 trillion yuan, an increase of 21.2%; Imports reached 17.37 trillion yuan, an increase of 21.5%. Compared with 2019, China’s foreign trade import and export, export and import increased by 23.9%, 26.1% and 21.2% respectively. In 2021, China’s foreign trade import and export showed five characteristics:
First, the annual import and export scale reached a new level, breaking through the $6 trillion mark for the first time. In 2021, in dollar terms, China’s import and export scale reached 6.05 trillion US dollars. Eight years after it reached 4 trillion US dollars for the first time in 2013, it crossed the two steps of 5 trillion and 6 trillion US dollars during the year, reaching an all-time high. This year’s foreign trade increased by 1.4 trillion US dollars.
Second, the import and export with major trading partners have achieved steady growth, and the import and export growth rate of countries along the "Belt and Road" is even faster. In 2021, China’s top five trading partners were ASEAN, the European Union, the United States, Japan and South Korea, and the import and export to these trading partners were 5.67, 5.35, 4.88, 2.4 and 2.34 trillion yuan respectively, up by 19.7%, 19.1%, 20.2%, 9.4% and 18.4% respectively. In the same period, China’s import and export to countries along the Belt and Road increased by 23.6%, 2.2 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate.
Third, the mode of trade has been further optimized, with the import and export of general trade accounting for more than 60%. In 2021, China’s general trade import and export was 24.08 trillion yuan, up 24.7%, accounting for 61.6%, up 1.6 percentage points; Among them, the export was 13.24 trillion yuan, an increase of 24.4%; Imports reached 10.84 trillion yuan, an increase of 25%. In the same period, the import and export of processing trade was 8.5 trillion yuan, an increase of 11.1%, accounting for 21.7%.
Fourth, the vitality of foreign trade operators is effectively stimulated, and private enterprises are more active in import and export. In 2021, there were 567,000 enterprises with import and export performance in China, an increase of 36,000. Among them, the import and export of private enterprises was 19 trillion yuan, an increase of 26.7%, accounting for 48.6%, an increase of 2 percentage points. In the same period, the import and export of foreign-invested enterprises was 14.03 trillion yuan, an increase of 12.7%; The import and export of state-owned enterprises was 5.94 trillion yuan, an increase of 27.7%.
Fifth, the export and import of mechanical and electrical products have maintained a good growth trend. In 2021, China exported 12.83 trillion yuan of mechanical and electrical products, an increase of 20.4%, accounting for 59% of the total export value, of which automatic data processing equipment and its parts, mobile phones and automobiles increased by 12.9%, 9.3% and 104.6% respectively. In the same period, the import of mechanical and electrical products was 7.37 trillion yuan, up by 12.2%, accounting for 42.4% of the total import value, of which the import of integrated circuits increased by 15.4%.
The picture shows Li Kuiwen, spokesperson of the General Administration of Customs and director of the Statistical Analysis Department. (photo by Xu Xiang)
2021 is a landmark year in the history of the party and the country. In the face of the severe impact of the global COVID-19 epidemic, China’s foreign trade import and export still showed strong resilience, and handed over a bright report card in the face of many difficulties and challenges. This is the result of the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with the Supreme Leader as the core. Over the past year, under the guidance of the Supreme Leader’s Socialism with Chinese characteristics Thought in the New Era, the national customs has strengthened the "four consciousnesses", strengthened the "four self-confidences" and achieved the "two maintenance", unswervingly implemented the decision-making arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, made immediate efforts, made overall plans to prevent and control port epidemics and promote the steady growth of foreign trade, strengthened supervision and optimization services, and effectively promoted the steady and qualitative increase of foreign trade volume.
Generally speaking, the foreign trade in the 14 th Five-Year Plan has achieved a good start. Looking forward to this year, foreign trade faces more uncertain, unstable and unbalanced factors. China’s economic development faces triple pressures: demand contraction, supply shock and expected weakening. The global epidemic situation is still grim, the external environment is becoming more complicated, severe and uncertain, and the recovery of international demand is slowing down. In addition, combined with the high foreign trade base in 2021, foreign trade operation will face certain pressure in 2022. While facing up to these difficulties and challenges, we should also see that China’s economy is resilient, and its long-term positive fundamentals will not change, and we will firmly stabilize our confidence in the basic foreign trade.
In the next step, the Customs will adhere to the guidance of Socialism with Chinese characteristics Thought of the Supreme Leader in the New Era, fully implement the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the previous plenary sessions of the 19th National Congress, conscientiously implement the decision-making arrangements of the Central Economic Work Conference, adhere to the general tone of striving for progress while maintaining stability, fully implement the new development concept, accelerate the construction of a new development pattern, continue to do a good job in "six stabilities" and "six guarantees", make overall plans for development and safety, make overall plans for port epidemic prevention and control, and promote the steady growth of foreign trade. Strengthen supervision and optimize services, continuously optimize the port business environment, better serve high-level open and high-quality development, do a good job of cross-cycle adjustment, promote the steady development of foreign trade, and greet the party’s twentieth victory with excellent results.
Next, I would like to answer your questions.
Xing Huina:
Thank you for your introduction. You can ask questions now, please inform your news organization before asking questions.
China Daily reporter:
In 2021, China’s foreign trade import and export maintained a double-digit growth, and the scale reached a record high. What are the main driving factors? What are your expectations for the foreign trade trend this year? Thank you.
Li Kuiwen:
Thank you for your question. In 2021, China’s foreign trade import and export achieved rapid growth, breaking through the two barriers of 5 trillion and 6 trillion US dollars during the year, reaching a new high in scale and steadily improving quality, and achieving a good start in foreign trade during the 14 th Five-Year Plan period. We believe that the main factors supporting China’s foreign trade growth are as follows:
First, China’s economic development and epidemic prevention and control maintain a leading position in the world. In 2021, China’s economy continued to recover, new steps were taken to build a new development pattern, new achievements were made in high-quality development, and major economic indicators maintained rapid growth. China’s economy has strong resilience, and its long-term positive fundamentals will not change. Domestic production and consumer demand have provided strong support for the steady growth of foreign trade. According to customs statistics, in 2021, the import and export of intermediate products in China increased by 24.9% and 28.6% respectively, and the import of consumer goods increased by 9.9%.
Second, the global economy has maintained a recovery trend. In 2021, the global economy as a whole showed a recovery trend. Both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund predicted that the world economy would increase by more than 5%, and the World Trade Organization predicted that the global trade in goods would increase by 10.8%. In 2021, the growth rate of China’s exports to the EU and Africa exceeded 20%, and the growth rate of exports to Latin America exceeded 40%. In terms of products, on the basis of the high growth in the previous year, the total export of China’s home economy-related products such as notebook computers, tablet computers and household appliances increased by 13.2% in 2021; The export of medicinal materials and medicines increased by 101.2%, which strongly supported the global anti-epidemic.
Third, the effects of steady growth policies and measures continue to appear. Since last year, China has issued a series of policies and measures to stabilize the main body, stabilize the market and ensure the smooth supply chain of foreign trade industry chain, such as maintaining reasonable and abundant liquidity, continuing and improving some tax reduction and fee reduction policies, implementing new structural tax cuts, increasing financing support for small and medium-sized enterprises and manufacturing enterprises, deepening the "streamline administration, delegate power, strengthen regulation and improve services" reform, continuously optimizing the business environment, accelerating the development of new foreign trade formats and new models, further deepening the reform of cross-border trade facilitation, and promoting trade and investment in the free trade pilot zone. The implementation of this series of policies has been detailed, and the effect has been continuously released, which has helped foreign trade enterprises to solve problems and greatly stimulated the vitality of market players, and has become an important support for the steady growth of foreign trade.
As for the next foreign trade trend you mentioned, I have already informed you that the current global epidemic situation is fluctuating, the external environment is becoming more complicated, severe and uncertain, the relative advantage of China’s economic recovery and cardinal utility may be weakened, and the uncertainties, instability and imbalances faced by China’s foreign trade development will increase in 2022. At the same time, we must also see that China’s economic resilience is strong, and its long-term positive fundamentals will not change, and it will continue to provide strong support for stabilizing foreign trade. Thank you.
CCTV reporter from the Central Radio and Television General Station:
Last year, China’s import and export trade with countries along the "Belt and Road" was higher than the whole. What are the highlights? In addition, we also want to know what new measures China Customs has taken to promote the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative? Thank you.
Li Kuiwen:
Thank you for your question. 2021 marks the 8th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative. Since the "Belt and Road Initiative" was put forward, China’s trade with countries along the "Belt and Road" has become increasingly close. According to customs statistics, in 2021, China’s import and export to countries along the "Belt and Road" was 11.6 trillion yuan, an increase of 23.6%, which was 2.2 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate of China’s foreign trade in the same period. Among them, exports were 6.59 trillion yuan, an increase of 21.5%; Imports reached 5.01 trillion yuan, an increase of 26.4%. Specifically, it mainly presents the following characteristics:
First, the scale of trade has steadily increased. From 2013 to 2021, the total import and export value of China and countries along the Belt and Road increased from 6.46 trillion yuan to 11.6 trillion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of 7.5%, and the proportion of China’s total foreign trade increased from 25% to 29.7% in the same period.
Second, the industrial chain supply chain cooperation is closer. From 2013 to 2021, the proportion of intermediate products in China’s exports to countries along the Belt and Road increased from 49.8% in 2013 to 56.2% in 2021. In 2021, the export of auto parts, textiles and lithium-ion batteries increased by 26.7%, 14.1% and 50.4% respectively.
Third, cooperation in the fields of energy, agriculture and minerals is improving. In 2021, China imported 1.18 trillion yuan of crude oil from countries along the Belt and Road, an increase of 44%; Agricultural products reached 326.55 billion yuan, an increase of 26.1%; Metal ore was 212.77 billion yuan, an increase of 24.9%; Natural gas was 185.45 billion yuan, an increase of 38.9%.
Fourth, private enterprises are active. In 2021, private enterprises imported and exported 6.21 trillion yuan to countries along the Belt and Road, an increase of 25.6%, accounting for 53.5% of China’s imports and exports with countries along the Belt and Road, an increase of 0.8 percentage points.
Regarding the customs’ efforts to promote the high-quality development of the "Belt and Road", we mainly did the following work last year:
First, speed up the construction of "Three Intellectuals". On February 9, 2021, the Chairman of the Supreme Leader issued a major initiative at the China-Central and Eastern European Countries Leaders Summit to deepen the cooperation on customs trade safety and customs clearance facilitation, and carry out the pilot cooperation of "Smart Customs, Smart Border and Smart Access". The national customs has conscientiously implemented the spirit of the important instructions of the Supreme Leader and Chairman, conscientiously implemented the concept of "Three Intelligences", integrated the concept of "Three Intelligences" into business reform and development, formulated and implemented the Opinions of the General Administration of Customs on Accelerating the Construction of "Three Intelligences" and Serving the High-quality Development of the Belt and Road, opened up the working mechanisms of "Three Intelligences" and "One Belt, One Road", and realized the strong alliance, "1+1" At present, the national customs has cultivated 78 "three wise" international cooperation projects, many of which involve countries along the "Belt and Road".
Second, formulate the Customs Work Plan for Promoting the High-quality Development of the Belt and Road during the 14th Five-Year Plan. 2021 is the first year of the 14th Five-Year Plan. In order to scientifically and effectively coordinate the customs work of the 14th Five-Year Plan and the Belt and Road, the General Administration of Customs has formulated the Customs Work Plan for Promoting the High-quality Development of the Belt and Road during the 14th Five-Year Plan. The Proposal adheres to the problem orientation and goal orientation, focuses on key countries, key fields and key projects, coordinates overall promotion and key breakthroughs, takes the cooperation of "three intelligences" as the guide, strives to create more highlights of building the "Belt and Road", and contributes customs wisdom and customs power to the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity.
Third, pragmatically promote key projects. We will make every effort to promote mutual recognition and cooperation with "certified operators" (AEO) in countries along the Belt and Road Initiative. In 2021, we overcame the epidemic and signed AEO mutual recognition agreements with five countries that jointly built the Belt and Road Initiative, including Serbia, Chile, Iran, Uganda and South Africa. By the end of 2021, China Customs had signed AEO mutual recognition agreements with 31 countries jointly building the Belt and Road Initiative. In addition, we have pragmatically promoted the "China-Europe Railway" project and signed cooperation documents with Kazakhstan and Belarus to support the development of China-Europe trains, further expand interconnection and cooperation, and promote smooth trade. Thank you.
Beijing Youth Daily reporter:
The Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympic Winter Games are just around the corner. What services and guarantees does the customs system provide for the smooth hosting of the Winter Olympics and Paralympic Winter Games? Thank you.
Li Kuiwen:
Thank you for your question. Beijing Winter Olympics is a major landmark event at an important historical node in China. The General Administration of Customs resolutely implements the spirit of the important instructions of the Supreme Leader General Secretary on prevention and control of epidemic situation at ports and preparations for the Winter Olympics and Paralympics, strengthens supervision and optimization services, implements prevention and control of epidemic situation at ports relentlessly, scientifically and accurately, and does a good job in health quarantine and customs clearance services for entry personnel of the Winter Olympics and Paralympics with high quality and efficiency, thus making due contributions to safeguarding the security of the capital and ensuring the smooth hosting of the Winter Olympics and Paralympics. The main work is as follows:
First, scientifically and accurately implement port epidemic prevention and control, do a good job in arrival and departure services for Olympic-related personnel, and resolutely curb the import of epidemic through ports. Strengthen communication with departments such as the Arrival and Departure Center of Winter Olympics, grasp the information of people entering and leaving the country in advance, constantly refine the customs clearance guarantee scheme, and implement "one machine, one policy" for all flights involving Winter Olympics, so as to achieve strict supervision, accurate quarantine and efficient service. For example, in order to reduce the time for people to stay at the port, the Instructions for Health Declaration of Charter Aircraft Entering the Winter Olympics have been specially compiled and translated into many languages, guiding the Olympic-related people to fill in the health declaration card in advance before boarding the plane, so as to improve customs clearance efficiency. In accordance with the requirements of "100% of the prescribed actions must be done in place, and 99% of them are failed", we will strictly standardize and do a good job in all aspects of health declaration card verification, body temperature monitoring, medical inspection, sampling inspection, transfer and information notification, pay close attention to the prevention and control of epidemic situation at ports, and resolutely curb the import of epidemic situation through ports. By January 10th, 2022, Beijing Customs had supervised 196 flights involving the Olympics, involving 5,958 passengers.
Second, continue to optimize services and race against time to ensure efficient customs clearance of winter Olympic materials. The notice of "Instructions for Customs Clearance of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games" was issued in advance, which provided detailed guidance to the inbound and outbound materials and personnel of the Winter Olympics from eight aspects: information registration and filing, tax guarantee for temporary imported materials, filing and approval before entry, customs clearance for imported materials, supervision of personnel and personal belongings, and customs clearance for journalists’ interview equipment. At the same time, we have set up special customs channels and special windows for goods and personnel entering and leaving the Winter Olympics, simplified the declaration by relying on the paperless customs clearance management system for Winter Olympics, and implemented the "5+2" reservation customs clearance system to ensure that winter Olympics goods can be inspected 24 hours a day. In addition, do a good job in the supervision of imported food related to Austria to ensure the safe and smooth supply of imported food for the Beijing Winter Olympics and Winter Paralympics. By January 10, 2022, Beijing Customs had supervised and released 637 tickets of imported materials for the Winter Olympics, with a value of about RMB 1.499 billion.
The third is to strengthen investment in science and technology and personnel to provide strong support for the high-quality and efficient completion of customs supervision services in Winter Olympics. Beijing Customs is the competent customs for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympic Winter Games. The customs promoted the transformation of the special achievements of "Science and Technology Winter Olympics", and deployed and applied 10 kinds of equipment and facilities such as nuclear radiation holographic positioning system, general disinfection cabinet, trace odor sniffer and intelligent inspection robot at the first line of the port, further improving the intelligence and information level of customs clearance for Winter Olympics. We will improve the working mechanism of the "horizontal+vertical" human resources echelon, set up a security echelon including more than 1,000 frontline and reserve personnel and more than 400 emergency support forces, and provide all-round backup support for Olympic-related personnel during the peak entry period in combination with the actual needs of the customs clearance for the Winter Olympics. Thank you.
Phoenix TV reporter:
China just celebrated the 20th anniversary of its accession to the WTO last month. What are the characteristics of China’s import and export of goods in the past 20 years after China’s accession to the WTO? Thank you.
Li Kuiwen:
Thank you for your question. 2021 is the 20th anniversary of China’s accession to the World Trade Organization. According to customs statistics, China’s total import and export value increased from 4.22 trillion yuan in 2001 to 39.1 trillion yuan in 2021, with an average annual growth rate of 12.2%. Customs statistics are the official statistics of China’s import and export trade. Through customs import and export statistics, we can witness the leap-forward development of China’s goods trade in the past 20 years.
First, the import and export increased by more than eight times, and the scale of China’s trade in goods jumped to the top in the world. The scale of China’s goods trade started from 4.22 trillion yuan in 2001, and broke through three steps of 10 trillion yuan, 20 trillion yuan and 30 trillion yuan in 2005, 2010 and 2018 respectively, and reached the 40 trillion yuan mark in 2021, with an increase of 8.3 times in 20 years. Especially in the past 10 years, the scale of China’s goods trade has increased from 24.4 trillion yuan in 2012 to 39.1 trillion yuan, with an increase of 14.7 trillion yuan, which is close to the import and export scale in 2009, which fully demonstrates the great achievements China has made in reform and opening up in the new era. In addition, in terms of global market share, China has also greatly increased from 4% in 2001 to 13.5% in the first three quarters of 2021, and in 2013, China became the largest country in global goods trade for the first time. In 2021, the scale of China’s foreign trade denominated in US dollars exceeded US$ 6 trillion for the first time.
Second, the structure of export products has changed significantly, with mechanical and electrical products accounting for nearly 60%. Over the past 20 years, China’s exports have increased by 12.5% annually. Mechanical and electrical products have become the most important export products, accounting for 59% of the total exports in 2021. It is worth mentioning that since the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic, China has actively promoted international anti-epidemic cooperation and provided hundreds of millions of epidemic prevention materials such as masks, protective clothing, testing reagents and vaccines to the international community, which has provided strong support for global anti-epidemic and economic recovery.
Third, continuous efforts have been made to expand imports, and imports of high-tech and resource products have grown steadily. In the past 20 years, China’s import of goods has grown at an average annual rate of 11.8%. In 2009, China became the second largest importer in the world, and its international market share reached 12.1% in the first three quarters of 2021. China’s more open market allows the world to share more dividends brought by China’s economic growth and consumption prosperity. In the past 20 years, the import of high-tech products in China has steadily increased, with an average annual growth rate of 14%, which has promoted the upgrading and transformation of China’s industrial structure; The import of resource products has expanded in an orderly manner, and the import of resource products such as metal ore, crude oil, coal and natural gas has increased by 18% annually, which has provided a powerful supplement to the stable growth of the domestic economy.
Fourth, the diversified development of trading partners, ASEAN has become China’s largest trading partner. In the past 20 years, China’s trade position with traditional markets such as the European Union, the United States, Japan and South Korea has been stable, and these trading partners accounted for 38.3% of China’s foreign trade in 2021. At the same time, China actively explored emerging markets such as ASEAN, Africa, Latin America, Russia and India, and the proportion of imports and exports with these trading partners increased from 16% in 2001 to 30.7% in 2021. Among them, ASEAN will become China’s largest trading partner in 2020, and will continue to maintain its position as China’s largest trading partner with a proportion of 14.5% in 2021. It is noteworthy that China’s trade with countries along the "Belt and Road" continues to deepen and smooth, and the scale of trade continues to expand, further promoting balanced and win-win development of trade.
Fifth, the number of foreign trade entities has doubled, and private enterprises have become the largest business entity. In 2021, the number of enterprises with import and export performance in China reached 567,000, 5.3 times higher than that in 2001. In the past 20 years, the proportion of the total import and export value of private enterprises in China has increased significantly from 6.1% in 2001 to 42.7% in 2019, becoming the largest foreign trade subject in China, and this proportion has increased to 48.6% in 2021. At the same time, the number of foreign-invested enterprises with import and export achievements has further increased, reaching 82,000 in 2021, an increase of 21,000 over 2001, and the average annual import and export scale of enterprises has reached 170 million yuan, an increase of 3.8 times over 2001.
Sixth, the new kinetic energy of foreign trade development is constantly stimulated, and the new foreign trade format is changing with each passing day. Customs statistics show that in 2021, the import and export of China’s comprehensive bonded zone, free trade pilot zone and Hainan Free Trade Port increased by 24.3%, 26.4% and 57.7% respectively, showing a booming trend. In terms of emerging trade formats, the scale of cross-border e-commerce and market procurement in China has expanded rapidly. In 2021, the import and export scale of cross-border e-commerce in China reached 1.98 trillion yuan, an increase of 15%; Market procurement exports increased by 32.1%. Thank you.
The Paper reporter:
RCEP came into effect on January 1st. Could you please tell us about China’s trade with RCEP member countries last year and what specific work the customs has done to promote the implementation of RCEP? Thank you.
Li Kuiwen:
Thank you for your question. On January 1st this year, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) came into effect for six ASEAN member countries including Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, and 10 countries including China, Japan, New Zealand and Australia, which marked the official launch of the world’s largest free trade area. According to customs statistics, in 2021, China’s import and export to the other 14 member countries of RCEP was 12.07 trillion yuan, an increase of 18.1%, accounting for 30.9% of China’s total foreign trade. Among them, exports were 5.64 trillion yuan, an increase of 16.8%; Imports reached 6.43 trillion yuan, up by 19.2%.
Among the 701 binding businesses of RCEP, the General Administration of Customs, alone or jointly, is responsible for 174, accounting for 24.8%. At present, relevant work has been fully done. The main work of customs in promoting the implementation of RCEP is reflected in the following three aspects:
First, in terms of rules of origin and tariff concessions. Two regulations and four supporting normative documents were issued, namely "Measures for the Administration of the Origin of Import and Export Goods under RCEP" and "Measures for the Administration of Approved Exporters". In view of the implementation requirements of RCEP tariff concession mode and rules of origin, the information system of customs origin management will be upgraded in an all-round way to realize the sharing and application of visa data and customs clearance data, and a three-dimensional customs supervision and service network combining origin management, enterprise management and commodity management will be built. Complete the translation of product-specific rules of origin and the consultation on the implementation guidelines of origin, promote the Chinese plan to become the consensus of all parties, and clear the obstacles for the entry into force of the agreement.
Second, in terms of customs procedures and trade facilitation. Focus on the rules of RCEP trade facilitation, aiming at accelerating the creation of a market-oriented, rule-based and international port business environment, and continuously optimize customs clearance procedures, improve customs clearance efficiency and reduce customs clearance costs. Vigorously promote RCEP members to optimize their respective operational processes, standardize and simplify customs supervision procedures, and jointly review customs procedures with them. Specially formulate and implement plans to promote mutual recognition and implementation of "AEO" between me and RCEP members. Up to now, I have signed AEO mutual recognition arrangements with five of the 10 members of RCEP who have established AEO system. We have tried relevant measures first in the comprehensive bonded zones in Shanghai, Guangdong, Tianjin, Fujian and other pilot free trade zones, such as defining the acceptable "minor error" range of certificates of origin under preferential trade agreements.
Third, in animal and plant quarantine and food safety, import and export commodity inspection. Taking advantage of the strong complementarity between RCEP members and me in the field of animal and plant quarantine, we will comprehensively sort out the access mechanism of imported agricultural products and promote the export of high-quality agricultural products in China. Strengthen the sharing of animal and plant epidemic information with RCEP members, promote international epidemic monitoring cooperation, and promote the upgrading of China-ASEAN animal and plant quarantine and food safety cooperation information network. Pay more attention to and study the technical trade measures of RCEP members, raise our trade concerns through multilateral and bilateral channels, and actively negotiate with foreign countries to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of our export enterprises.
At the same time, do a good job in the publicity and interpretation of RCEP policies related to customs business, especially in the field of rules of origin for nearly a thousand times, and help enterprises to be familiar with rules of origin and agreed tax rates in various forms and carriers, and master the relevant requirements such as customs clearance for import and export goods, application for certificates of origin, and issuance of independent declarations. Thank you.
People’s Daily reporter:
The Central Economic Work Conference proposed that micro-policies should continuously stimulate the vitality of market players. May I ask the spokesman, how did the main players of foreign trade market perform in import and export last year? What measures has the customs introduced to stimulate the vitality of foreign trade enterprises? Thank you.
Li Kuiwen:
Thank you for your question. In 2021, the vitality of China’s foreign trade business entities continued to increase, which strongly supported the steady growth of foreign trade. The number of enterprises with import and export performance reached 567,000, an increase of 36,000. Among them, private enterprises maintained the status of China’s largest foreign trade business entity, with import and export of 19 trillion yuan, an increase of 26.7%, accounting for 48.6% of China’s total foreign trade value; The import and export of foreign-invested enterprises remained stable, with the import and export reaching 14.03 trillion yuan, up by 12.7%. The import and export of state-owned enterprises accelerated, reaching 5.94 trillion yuan, an increase of 27.7%.
Regarding the work done by the customs in stimulating the vitality of foreign trade market players, in 2021, there are mainly the following aspects:
First, the implementation of the "streamline administration, delegate power, strengthen regulation and improve services" reform, the customs declaration unit for the record to achieve the "full network office, national office." We will make greater efforts to deepen the "streamline administration, delegate power, strengthen regulation and improve services" reform, actively promote the change from "licensing" to "filing" for customs declaration enterprises, fully implement filing management for customs declaration units, and introduce measures such as "all-round network operation and nationwide operation" to facilitate the convenience and benefit enterprises. Enterprises can log in to the "single window" or "internet plus Customs" at any place in the country to submit filing applications, and after being audited by the local customs, they can print their own filing receipts and go through the whole process paperless online; If the enterprise makes a mistake in choosing the local customs, the first customs officer who receives the application will be responsible for it, so as to truly realize the enterprise’s "zero errands, zero cost" and "application at any place, one-time handling".
The second is to speed up AEO international mutual recognition cooperation and help enterprises enjoy convenience in a wider range. Focusing on building the Belt and Road countries, countries members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP), Central and Eastern European countries and important trading countries, we will accelerate the promotion of international mutual recognition cooperation of "certified operators" (AEO). Since 2021, we have achieved AEO mutual recognition with Serbia, Chile, Uganda, Iran and South Africa. Up to now, we have signed AEO mutual recognition agreements with 21 economies including the European Union and Singapore, covering 47 countries (regions), and the total number of countries (regions) with mutual recognition ranks first in the world. Among them, 31 countries have jointly built the "Belt and Road", 5 RCEP member countries and 13 Central and Eastern European countries. The goods exported by AEO enterprises in China to mutually recognized countries (regions) can directly enjoy the convenience measures implemented by local customs, such as reducing inspection, giving priority to handling, appointing liaison service, and giving priority to customs clearance in extraordinary times, thus reducing trade costs and enhancing the vitality of enterprises.
The third is to strengthen the customs protection of intellectual property rights and stimulate the innovation vitality of enterprises. We have successively deployed and carried out a series of special actions such as "Longteng Action 2021" to comprehensively strengthen intellectual property protection, "Blue Net Action 2021" to protect intellectual property rights of delivery channels, and "Net Net Action 2021" to protect intellectual property rights of export transshipment goods, and continued to maintain a high-pressure situation of cracking down on infringement. Compile the knowledge map of intellectual property customs protection, organize the development and pilot application of the intelligent identification technology of intellectual property trademarks on the mobile side of the new generation inspection management system. Carry out the guidance and service of "one enterprise, one policy" intellectual property protection, enhance the awareness and ability of intellectual property protection of enterprises, continuously strengthen cross-departmental, cross-customs and cross-border law enforcement cooperation, strengthen the whole chain protection of intellectual property rights, and better serve the innovation and development of enterprises.
In the next step, the General Administration of Customs will continue to deepen the "streamline administration, delegate power, strengthen regulation and improve services" reform according to the requirements of boosting the confidence of foreign trade market players, optimize the business environment at ports, promote helping enterprises to tide over difficulties and resume development, and stimulate the vitality and endogenous motivation of foreign trade market players. Thank you.
Global Times reporter:
Under the epidemic situation, traditional trade has been severely impacted, and new formats and new models such as cross-border e-commerce have played an important role in ensuring orders, markets and shares. Could you please tell us more about the import and export of China’s new trade format in 2021? Thank you.
Li Kuiwen:
Thank you for your question. Cross-border e-commerce, market procurement and other new formats and new models are the effective force of China’s foreign trade development and an important trend of international trade development. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, China’s cross-border e-commerce has taken advantage of online marketing, online trading and contactless delivery, actively cultivated new advantages in participating in international cooperation and competition, and the scale of import and export has continued to grow rapidly.
First, in terms of cross-border e-commerce, B2B export pilots have been fully rolled out, and new models such as "China-Europe trains" and "assembling and re-exporting" have been integrated and developed. In order to help cross-border e-commerce export enterprises better explore the international market, in the second half of 2021, the pilot of B2B export supervision of cross-border e-commerce was officially replicated and promoted in the national customs, and the supporting policies were continuously improved. At the same time, the "Shanghe Demonstration Zone-Minsk", "Yixin Europe" and "Suxin Europe", Hefei to Hamburg, Germany, Port William and other cross-border e-commerce trains have been opened and normalized, realizing the integration of "China-Europe Train" and cross-border e-commerce mode. Customs statistics show that in 2021, China’s cross-border e-commerce import and export was 1.98 trillion yuan, an increase of 15%; Among them, exports were 1.44 trillion yuan, an increase of 24.5%.
Second, in terms of market procurement, the export scale exceeded 900 billion yuan. With the expansion of the national market procurement pilot, China’s market procurement exports reached 930.39 billion yuan in 2021, an increase of 32.1%, accounting for 4.3% of the total export value in the same period, driving export growth by 1.3 percentage points. Thank you.
Xing Huina:
Time relationship, the last question.
The picture shows Xing Huina, deputy director and spokesperson of the State Council Information Office. (photo by Liu Jian)
China News Agency reporter:
We know that the development goal of China’s foreign trade last year was to stabilize the quantity and improve the quality. What are the new changes and characteristics of China’s import and export last year in terms of quality improvement? Thank you.
Li Kuiwen:
Thank you for your question. In 2021, China’s foreign trade import and export reached a new high in scale and made new progress in quality improvement. We think it is mainly reflected in the following aspects:
First, the international market share is higher. According to the latest data, in the first three quarters of 2021, China’s export international market share was 14.9%, up 0.6 percentage points year-on-year and 3.8 percentage points compared with 2012, which was just the same as China’s export international market share in 2000 at the beginning of the century. At the same time, the international market share of China’s imports has steadily increased from 10% for the first time in 2013 to 12.1% in the first three quarters of 2021, up by 0.5 percentage points year-on-year. This reflects the great achievements we have made in reform and opening up in the new era.
Second, new formats are developing faster. In 2021, China’s cross-border e-commerce exports increased by 24.5% year-on-year, and market procurement exports increased by 32.1%. The effect of China’s policies and measures to promote the healthy, sustainable and innovative development of new foreign trade formats and new models continues to emerge.
Third, the role of an open platform is stronger. In 2021, the import and export of China’s comprehensive bonded zone increased by 24.3%, the import and export of Pilot Free Trade Zone increased by 26.4%, and the import and export of Hainan Free Trade Port increased by 57.7%.
Fourth, the main body is more energetic. In 2021, the number of foreign trade enterprises with import and export performance in China reached 567,000, an increase of 36,000. Among them, the contribution of private enterprises to foreign trade growth reached 58.2%.
Fifth, the import and export structure is better. In terms of trade structure, the proportion of China’s general trade import and export increased by 1.6 percentage points in 2021; Nearly 60% of export products are mechanical and electrical products. In terms of regional distribution, the import and export of the central and western regions of China was 6.93 trillion yuan, an increase of 22.8%, which was 1.4 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate of China’s foreign trade in the same period. Among trading partners, imports and exports to Europe, America, Japan and other economies increased by 17.5%, while imports and exports to Latin America and Africa increased by 31.6% and 26.3% respectively. China, together with its trading partners, has jointly maintained the stability of the global industrial chain supply chain and helped the recovery of the world economy.
I would also like to take this opportunity to introduce some work done by the customs in coordinating the prevention and control of epidemic situation at ports and promoting the steady growth of foreign trade.
In 2021, faced with the impact of the global COVID-19 epidemic, China’s foreign trade produced a bright report card, and foreign trade also became a highlight of China’s economy. This not only reflects the strong resilience of China’s foreign trade, but also incorporates the unremitting efforts of the national customs.
Over the past year, under the guidance of Socialism with Chinese characteristics Thought of the Supreme Leader in the New Era, the national customs resolutely and quickly implemented the spirit of the important instructions of the General Secretary of the Supreme Leader, deeply understood the new features and requirements in the new development stage, fully, accurately and comprehensively implemented the new development concept, promulgated and implemented the "14th Five-Year Plan" customs development plan and the national "14th Five-Year Plan" port development plan, and started a new journey of socialist modern customs construction in an all-round way.
Over the past year, the national customs coordinated development and safety, strengthened supervision and optimized services, comprehensively improved the level of supervision ability, implemented port epidemic prevention and control without relaxation, accurately and scientifically, maintained the high-pressure situation of cracking down on smuggling, actively supported the steady growth of foreign trade, and vigorously optimized the business environment at ports, which effectively promoted the steady and qualitative increase of foreign trade volume.
Over the past year, the national customs has adhered to the systematic concept, actively integrated into the overall situation, promoted the implementation of major national strategies such as the coordinated development of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the integration of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Yangtze River Delta, served the construction of the free trade pilot zone and Hainan Free Trade Port, promoted the high-quality development of the "Belt and Road", expanded the AEO mutual recognition cooperation, strengthened the construction of "three intelligences", and completed the preparatory work for the implementation of RCEP ahead of schedule, which effectively promoted the high-level opening.
We still have a few specific tasks, and we will also inform you here:
First, scientifically and accurately do a good job in port epidemic prevention and control. Since 2021, with the most resolute attitude, the fastest action and the most powerful measures, the Customs has done a good job in the prevention and control of COVID-19 epidemic scientifically, accurately and strictly, and resolutely built a port quarantine defense line.
The first is to strengthen the information research of the epidemic situation. Implement the "four early" requirements, closely monitor and judge the overseas epidemic situation, as well as virus variation and changes in prevention and control measures, and "judge one day"; Deploy customs at land ports to further improve the detailed work plan and emergency plan in accordance with the principle of "one port, one plan" to prevent the epidemic from being introduced through border land ports.
Second, strict port health quarantine. The Customs strictly completes the boarding quarantine of inbound means of transport, and strictly implements quarantine measures such as two-way temperature detection, health declaration card verification, medical inspection and sampling detection for all inbound personnel, so as to fully investigate the epidemic risk of all inbound personnel. Strengthen the rapid response mechanism of joint prevention and control with relevant local departments, strictly hand over and transfer all entry personnel and inform them, and realize seamless connection and closed-loop management.
The third is to adhere to the principle of "people, things and environment should be protected against each other". According to the work plan of the joint prevention and control mechanism of the State Council, the Customs carries out nucleic acid monitoring and preventive disinfection supervision at the port for imported cold chain food and imported high-risk non-cold chain container goods; Supervise airlines to carry out terminal disinfection of inbound passenger aircraft in strict accordance with the relevant provisions of the joint prevention and control mechanism of the State Council.
The fourth is to strengthen personal safety protection. Customs strengthens the implementation of safety protection system and supervision system, strengthens training and assessment, and strictly regulates personal protection operations; Strict closed management is implemented for staff in high-risk positions. Front-line staff at the port always keep full vaccination, accelerate the strengthening of immunization, and the personal protection standards and measures will not be reduced after strict vaccination.
Second, go all out to promote the steady growth of foreign trade. In 2021, the Customs will focus on the concerns of market players, open to the outside world at a high level, actively implement various policies and measures to stabilize foreign trade and foreign investment, and help the import and export trade maintain a stable and positive trend.
First, continuously optimize the port business environment. Except in special circumstances, all 38 kinds of regulatory documents involved in import and export can be accepted through a "single window". Expand the "single window" financial service pilot, benefiting more than 230 thousand foreign trade enterprises, and consolidate the effect of reducing the overall customs clearance time of import and export goods. In December 2021, the overall customs clearance time for imports and exports in China was 32.97 hours and 1.23 hours, respectively, which was 66.14% and 89.98% shorter than that in 2017.
The second is to effectively reduce the customs clearance costs of enterprises. Implement institutional innovation and vigorously reduce institutional transaction costs. In 2021, the online filing procedures for 183,000 enterprises will be completed as soon as possible. We will promote the pilot reform of tariff guarantee insurance. By the end of 2021, 3,775 enterprises had accumulated guarantee tax of 534.02 billion yuan, helping enterprises to reduce costs and increase efficiency.
Third, vigorously promote the development of new trade formats. We will continue to optimize the reform measures for B2B export supervision of cross-border e-commerce, and apply the supervision mode of B2B direct export and cross-border e-commerce export overseas warehouse in the national customs from July 1, 2021 to help enterprises better explore the international market. Support the expansion of market procurement trade pilots, and cooperate with relevant departments to complete the acceptance of newly established market procurement pilots. At present, there are 31 market procurement pilots.
Fourth, actively support the development of a new highland for opening to the outside world. Promote the high-quality development of comprehensive bonded zones, support the establishment of new comprehensive bonded zones in areas with real needs and qualified conditions, and establish 8 new comprehensive bonded zones in 2021; Up to now, there are 168 special customs supervision areas in China. We give full play to the role of the Pilot Free Trade Zone as a "test field". In 2021, we agreed to put 25 innovative measures in the first place to help open up to the outside world at a high level. Thank you.
Xing Huina:
Thank you, Director Li. That’s all for today’s press conference. Some media have not been given the opportunity to ask questions. You can keep in touch with us after the meeting. Thank you, media friends, goodbye!
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