On March 20th, the State Council Office held the 11th press conference on the theme of "Opening by Authoritative Authorities" to introduce the situation of "guarding the country, promoting development and contributing to the Chinese modernization".
Scientific supervision to ensure the safe and orderly import and export of goods
"Scientific supervision according to law, using high-tech means such as big data and intelligent map review, improve the efficiency of port inspection and taxation, and ensure the safe and orderly import and export of goods." Yu Jianhua, director of the General Administration of Customs, said.
In 2022, China’s total foreign trade value exceeded 42 trillion yuan. The national customs supervised the import and export freight volume of 4.8 billion tons, 13 million freighters, planes, trains and other means of transport (racks and ships), and supervised 320 million pieces of cross-border postal express mail. At present, there are 1.85 million import and export enterprises registered with the customs, which is three times that of 10 years ago. In 2022, the national customs intercepted 580,000 species of harmful organisms, supervised the import and export of 590 million tons of dangerous chemicals, returned and destroyed 2,900 batches of unqualified food and cosmetics, and seized 1.2 million pieces of contraband and 2.8 tons of drugs.
Yu Jianhua said that due to the large scale of trade, various forms of trade, high regulatory requirements and high security pressure, the national customs is driven by reform and technology to vigorously promote the construction of smart customs. Realize the digitalization, automation and intelligence of customs clearance and management, and continuously improve the supervision efficiency; Strengthen the three defense lines of "overseas, port and domestic", build a "response, echo and response" customs operation mechanism, and build an all-round and full-chain supervision system.
Combating smuggling is an important function of customs. In recent years, the General Administration of Customs, together with the public security, marine police and other departments, organized a joint action of "going abroad with a sword" to severely crack down on the smuggling of key commodities, key channels and key areas. In the past five years, 20,000 cases of smuggling crimes have been investigated, with a case value of more than 500 billion yuan.
This year, the national customs will continue to crack down on smuggling. The first is to strengthen special smuggling. Carry out joint special operations to crack down on the smuggling of refined oil, foreign garbage, guns and drugs. The second is to strengthen comprehensive supervision. Give full play to the comprehensive functions of customs port supervision, inspection and quarantine, inspection, etc., and weave a solid three-dimensional anti-smuggling prevention and control network. The third is to strengthen comprehensive management. Further promote local governments to implement the main responsibility of comprehensive anti-smuggling management, and cooperate with law enforcement departments such as public security and marine police to form anti-smuggling joint forces.
Take measures to promote the stability and quality of foreign trade.
In 2022, the General Administration of Customs successively issued 23 measures to help enterprises out of difficulties, and local customs refined them into more than 1,300 specific measures according to local conditions. These measures were welcomed by business entities and achieved the expected results. In December 2022, the overall customs clearance time for imports and exports nationwide was reduced by 67% and 92% respectively compared with 2017.
"Take measures to ensure the stability and quality of foreign trade, continuously optimize the port business environment, make cross-border trade more convenient, and greatly reduce the overall customs clearance time for import and export." Yu Jianhua introduced.
At present, the national customs is evaluating 23 support measures, and on this basis, it is studying new policy measures aimed at the pain points, difficulties and blocking points of enterprises. First, smooth import and export logistics. Promote the construction of smart customs, support the construction of smart ports and smart borders, speed up efficiency through scientific and technological means, and promote the convenience of cross-border logistics. The second is to optimize the port business environment. We will further promote the construction of a "single window" for international trade and provide enterprises with "one-stop" services for customs clearance. The third is to reduce the cost of enterprises. Help enterprises to make full use of tariff preferences of free trade agreements such as RCEP and reduce the cost of import and export links. The fourth is to support the development of new formats. Innovate the customs supervision mode of cross-border e-commerce to achieve precise supervision and rapid customs clearance. Support the development of new formats such as market procurement trade and bonded maintenance.
"We will carry out in-depth investigation and study, enter the enterprise, enter the airport terminal, face the needs of enterprises, solve difficult problems and solve new problems, and go all out to promote the stability and quality of foreign trade." Yu Jianhua said.
Zhao Zenglian, member of the Party Committee and director of the General Office of the General Administration of Customs, said that in the next step, the national customs will continue to optimize port facilities, build service platforms, promote internal and external connectivity, strengthen international cooperation and improve customs clearance efficiency. We will continue to deepen the pilot reform of customs clearance facilitation, such as "direct pick-up by ship", "direct loading in Hong Kong" and "combined port". Guide all localities to announce the customs clearance process and the operation time limit of the main links in combination with the actual situation, so as to stabilize the customs clearance time within a reasonable range and provide relatively stable customs clearance expectations for the majority of enterprises.
Try first, serve the high level and open to the outside world
Cross-border e-commerce from scratch has become a new kinetic energy for China’s foreign trade development and a new starting point for high-quality development. In the past five years, cross-border e-commerce has increased from 1 trillion yuan in 2018 to 2.11 trillion yuan in 2022. At present, 165 cross-border e-commerce comprehensive experimental zones have been established nationwide, covering 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities.
In view of the development trend and characteristics of cross-border e-commerce, Sun Yuning, deputy director of the General Administration of Customs, said that the customs will "work hard" on strong supervision and use intelligent verification means to prevent cross-border e-commerce smuggling by verifying the authenticity of customs declaration documents; In terms of excellent service, we will support cross-border e-commerce enterprises to pay taxes electronically, facilitate online processing for enterprises, optimize the overseas warehouse declaration process, and serve enterprises to further expand exports.
Sun Yuning said that with the reform and opening up, special customs supervision areas came into being. Last year, the total import and export value of special customs supervision areas reached 8.4 trillion yuan, accounting for 20% of China’s total foreign trade value. At present, there are 167 special customs supervision areas, including 156 comprehensive bonded areas, accounting for 93.4%, covering 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities. The national customs will speed up the introduction of reform measures to promote the high-quality development of the comprehensive bonded zone and promote the integrated development of domestic and foreign trade.
In 2022, the total foreign trade value of nine cities in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Hong Kong and Macao together reached 2.5 trillion US dollars, accounting for 5% of the global trade volume. In supporting the construction of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Yu Jianhua said that the Customs will work closely with relevant parties to strengthen the "hard connectivity" of facilities and the "soft connectivity" of cooperation. The first is to grasp the platform construction. Increase the intensity of the Hengqin Cooperation Zone, and promote the implementation of "first-line liberalization and second-line management". Support the innovation of customs supervision system in Qianhai Cooperation Zone and serve the construction of Nansha International Shipping Logistics Hub. The second is to facilitate customs clearance. Strengthen mutual recognition of customs supervision in the three places. Facilitate personnel exchanges and the flow of goods. The third is strong law enforcement cooperation. Work together to maintain a good development environment in Greater Bay Area.
"First-in-first-trial services will be opened to the outside world at a high level, and the innovation of customs supervision system in Hainan Free Trade Port, Pilot Free Trade Zone, Hengqin Guangdong-Macao Deep Cooperation Zone and Comprehensive Bonded Zone will be promoted." Yu Jianhua said. (Reporter Du Haitao)