Reporter: In the past few years, the business environment of China's ports has been continuously optimized. What measures has the General Administration of Customs taken to continuously promote customs clearance facilitation, improve customs clearance efficiency, reduce the compliance cost of import and export links, and fully promote the stability of foreign trade and foreign investment?
Dang Yingjie: As the lead department to optimize the business environment at ports, the General Administration of Customs, together with relevant state departments and local governments, has conscientiously implemented the decision-making arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, continuously intensified its work, promulgated a series of policies and measures, adopted a series of hard measures, strengthened supervision, optimized services, and continuously improved the level of cross-border trade facilitation, thus making due contributions to the high-quality development and high-level opening of foreign trade. Mainly reflected in:
First, further streamline the regulatory documents on import and export links. In 2020, the General Administration of Customs, together with relevant departments, will further sort out and analyze the regulatory documents of import and export links, and continue to simplify the regulatory documents according to the principle of "cancellation that can be cancelled, cancellation of port inspection", so as to realize the merger of two types of regulatory documents of import and export links, and cancel 1 from 202 1 regulatory documents. At present, the number of regulatory documents that need to be verified in import and export has decreased from 86 in 20 17 to 4 1, a decrease of 52.3%. Among these 4 1 kinds of regulatory documents, except for 3 kinds that cannot be networked due to special circumstances, all the other 38 kinds of documents have been applied and processed online, among which 23 kinds of documents have been accepted through the "single window" of international trade, and all regulatory documents have been automatically compared and verified in the customs clearance process, and enterprises do not need to submit paper regulatory documents to the customs.
The second is to further reduce the overall customs clearance time for import and export goods. The State Port Office strengthens the guidance to local ports, regularly monitors and informs the overall customs clearance time of provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities), and strengthens the coordination of customs clearance at key ports in a targeted manner to minimize the impact of the epidemic on imports and exports. The national customs has continuously improved the fault-tolerant mechanism, encouraged enterprises to choose "declare in advance" under the premise of respecting the independent choice of customs clearance, expanded the pilot of "two-step declaration" for imports, and shortened the time for declaration preparation and customs clearance. Actively promote the "direct shipping" of imported goods and the "direct loading" of export goods at qualified ports on a pilot basis, enhance enterprises' expectations of customs clearance time, and facilitate enterprises to arrange transportation, production and business activities reasonably. For auto parts exempted from CCC certification, "declare first and then verify" shall be implemented at the time of declaration, and acceptance of third-party test results shall be continued. Through the above measures, the customs clearance time at the port has been greatly shortened. According to statistics, in March of 20021year, the overall customs clearance time for import was 37. 12 hours, and that for export was10.67 hours. Compared with 20 17, the overall customs clearance time for import and export is shortened by more than 50%.
The third is to further reduce the compliance cost of import and export links. Last year, in order to reduce the impact of the epidemic on enterprises and help them tide over the difficulties, the the State Council executive meeting repeatedly studied the issue of tax reduction and fee reduction. From March 1 year, the port construction fee for import and export goods will be exempted, and the port fee and port facility security fee will be reduced by 20% respectively. Policies and measures to benefit enterprises, such as reducing port fees in stages, have achieved practical results. All relevant departments of the state strictly implement the management system of administrative fees, clean up and standardize the operating and service fees of import and export links, and make joint efforts to reduce the compliance costs of import and export links. Seven departments, including the National Development and Reform Commission, jointly issued and implemented the Action Plan for Clearing and Regulating Port Charges, and put forward policies and measures such as promoting the improvement of port charges policy, establishing a port charges supervision and examination system, and standardizing and guiding shipping enterprises' charging behavior. Since 20 18, the list of port charges has been made public, and the charging standards have been published and clearly marked. The list of port charges has been made public throughout the country. The State Port Office has organized and developed a "single window" national port charging and service information publishing system, which promotes online publicity and online inquiry services of port, shipping agency, tally and other charging standards to national ports. Promote the implementation of the "one-stop sunshine price" charging model at qualified ports to further enhance the transparency and comparability of port charges.
The fourth is to further improve the level of informationization and intelligence of port customs clearance. On the one hand, vigorously expand the "single window" function. Last year, in view of the impact of the epidemic on import and export, the "single window" launched the function of declaration and customs clearance of epidemic prevention materials in time, giving full play to the advantages of online processing in the whole process, realizing "zero contact" for enterprises, "zero delay" for goods customs clearance and "zero failure" for system operation, helping enterprises to resume work and production. Innovate the "foreign trade+finance" model and launch financial services such as online international settlement, financing loans, tariff guarantee insurance and export credit insurance, effectively solve the financing problems of small and medium-sized enterprises and support the development of the real economy. At present, the "single window" has realized the docking and information sharing with the general systems of 25 departments, serving all ports and various regions in China, with more than 4.22 million registered users, online 18 basic service functions, providing 729 service items, and reporting daily business volume of120,000 votes, which basically meets the "one-stop" business handling needs and inclusive service level of enterprises.
On the other hand, vigorously promote the paperless and electronic process of customs clearance at ports. Shanghai, Tianjin and other key coastal ports will strengthen the construction of port logistics integrated service platforms, continue to implement electronic equipment exchange receipts, packing lists, bills of lading and other documents, and promote the electronic issuance of export bills of lading by international shipping companies. Increase the application of terminal automation, unmanned card collection and intelligent tally. Promote the transformation of "smart ports", realize multi-party sharing of logistics data, and greatly improve the efficiency of goods entering and leaving the port. Key coastal ports actively promote the integrated service linkage of "customs clearance+logistics" at ports, implement the time limit system for port units to announce port operations, and rely on the "single window" to realize the push of inspection notification information to ports and port operation stations, so as to enhance the customs clearance expectations of enterprises. Deepen the construction of "smart customs", vigorously promote the installation and use of H986, CT and other mechanical inspection equipment at ports across the country, expand the application scope of intelligent drawing inspection, increase the proportion of non-invasive inspection, and further improve the inspection efficiency.
Fifth, further coordinate epidemic prevention and control to promote the stable development of foreign trade. Since the outbreak of the epidemic last year, the General Administration of Customs and Qi Xin, the relevant department, have made concerted efforts to promote the prevention and control of the epidemic and promote economic and social development. Strengthen the guidance and coordination of local ports, quickly start the emergency handling mechanism of major public health emergencies at ports, and increase the control and quarantine of entry-exit personnel; Adhere to accurate prevention and control, implement differentiated prevention and control measures according to the different characteristics of air, water and land ports, dynamically adjust the port epidemic response strategy, and close the travel inspection channel at border ports in time according to the principle of "passengers stop cargo". Develop a national port operation display and analysis system, monitor the operation of ports across the country, especially border ports, do a solid job in the prevention and control of imported epidemic situations outside ports, and build a solid defense line.
At the same time, the General Administration of Customs has successively issued 10 measures for the steady growth of foreign trade and formulated a package of policy measures such as 50 task lists. In view of the epidemic situation, the measures of exempting consignors and consignors from being present during the inspection of goods were introduced, and the information exchange platform of exempting consignors and consignors from being present during the epidemic prevention and control period was developed and applied in the national customs, which strongly supported processing trade enterprises to explore the domestic market, further relaxed the time limit for domestic customs declaration and tax payment of processing trade, and adopted various measures to reduce the customs clearance fees and domestic sales costs of enterprises, alleviate the operational difficulties of enterprises and give them support.
Reporter: Affected by the epidemic, China's foreign trade accelerated in the second half of last year. Combined with the characteristics of cross-border e-commerce and the growth of blowout in China and Europe, how can the General Administration of Customs (State Port Office) better optimize the port business environment? In view of the current foreign trade development trend, what do you think are the shortcomings in optimizing the port business environment and how to improve it in the next step? How to create a more convenient platform for foreign companies to trade and invest in China? What examples can you share?
Dang Yingjie: Overall, since the second half of last year, China's foreign trade operation has maintained a rapid growth trend. Although the COVID-19 epidemic is still spreading all over the world, the world economic situation is still complicated and severe, and the development of foreign trade faces many unstable and uncertain factors, China Customs has continuously innovated and optimized its supervision system, and issued a series of targeted measures to continuously and vigorously support the orderly development of trains in cross-border electronic commerce and Central Europe. For example, the Customs has introduced regulatory measures to comprehensively promote the return of cross-border e-commerce export goods, innovatively carry out cross-border e-commerce B2B export pilot projects, expand and smooth cross-border e-commerce logistics channels, fully guarantee the orderly customs clearance of cross-border e-commerce peak goods such as "double 1 1", and improve cross-border e-commerce statistics. The General Administration of Customs has issued 10 measures to support the development of China-Europe trains, which can effectively reduce the number of customs declarations, support the construction of China-Europe train hub stations and promote the development of China-Europe train multimodal transport business.
In recent years, China's port business environment has been continuously optimized and achieved remarkable results. However, compared with the international advanced level, there are still some difficulties and problems. For example, since last year, import and export enterprises have reflected that the capacity of international routes is tight and "one box is hard to find" and other problems need to be coordinated and solved. In view of the diversified needs of enterprises, there are still "shortcomings" to be filled in such aspects as port collaborative governance, in-depth cooperation between enterprises and customs, and cross-departmental data sharing.
In order to better benchmark the international advanced standards, focus on the concerns of market players and promote the high-quality development of foreign trade, at the beginning of this year, the General Administration of Customs organized a four-month special campaign to promote cross-border trade facilitation in eight cities (ports) across the country, and jointly launched 18 policy measures with the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Transport and the General Administration of Market Supervision. Efforts should be made to solve the "blocking points", "pain points" and "difficulties" that the current market players are concerned about from the aspects of optimizing processes, reducing costs, reducing time and improving efficiency. At present, all the work is progressing smoothly and the expected results have been achieved.
For example, due to the characteristics of maritime logistics, it takes a relatively long time for goods to go through customs clearance and dock operation procedures at the port. Goods with high timeliness requirements, such as imported fruits, are easy to deteriorate because they are stranded in the port, and some goods that are in urgent need of export are often unable to be shipped as scheduled due to many import and export goods in the port, lagging operation arrangements and other factors, facing the loss of booking fees and the risk of default. In order to improve the efficiency of customs clearance at maritime ports, we have vigorously promoted the pilot projects of "direct delivery on board" for imported goods and "direct loading on arrival" for export goods at qualified ports, providing enterprises with more optional customs clearance modes. By coordinating port terminals, shippers, freight forwarders, transportation enterprises and other units, we can optimize the operation process in many aspects, realize the release of goods, effectively improve the efficiency of customs clearance, reduce the time and cost of loading, unloading, stockpiling and waiting of goods at the terminal, reduce the logistics cost of enterprises and release the stacking capacity of the terminal. At present, the business of "direct loading" and "direct lifting" has been widely piloted in major coastal ports, which has brought tangible dividends to enterprises. Taking Tianjin Port as an example, the method of "direct shipment on board" was adopted, and the time from arrival of imported goods at Tianjin Port to waiting for loading and loading was shortened from 2-3 days to less than 3 hours.
Reporter: As China and other RCEP member countries plan to promote the entry into force of the agreement on June 5438+1 October1,2022, what has the General Administration of Customs done to welcome the upcoming RCEP? What are your expectations for the entry into force of the agreement? ?
Dang Yingjie: In 2020, the total import and export value of China to other 14 members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) was 10.2 trillion yuan, accounting for 3 1.7% of the total import and export value of China in the same period. At present, the General Administration of Customs is preparing for the entry into force and implementation of customs provisions in RCEP in combination with its own responsibilities. For example, in the implementation of tariff preferences, the General Administration of Customs is studying and promulgating the Measures for the Administration of the Origin of Import and Export Goods of RCEP and the Measures for the Administration of Approved Exporters, sorting out the application process of import and export visas under RCEP, and building a supporting information system to ensure the convenience of enterprises to declare their interests. In terms of customs protection of intellectual property rights, actively fulfill the obligations stipulated by RCEP, strengthen cooperation and coordination with RECP regional customs, * * * improve the level of intellectual property protection of regional customs, and maintain a good trade and business environment. The State Administration of Ports actively studies the relevant provisions of the RCEP Agreement on "Customs Procedures and Trade Facilitation" and is organizing a comparative study on customs clearance facilitation under the RCEP framework to provide intellectual support for decision-making and help accelerate the creation of a market-oriented, rule-of-law and international port business environment. We expect that the entry into force of RCEP will further promote the predictability, consistency and transparency of the application of customs laws and regulations in China and relevant member States, promote the coordination among countries in promoting trade facilitation, strengthen cooperation among contracting parties, and realize safer and more convenient cross-border trade.
Reporter: As the gateway to the outside world, the port plays an important role in promoting the development of foreign trade and international integration. How can the State Port Office promote the development of general airports, cruise terminals, freight airports and mixed ports by adapting to new foreign trade formats and supporting the construction of free trade zones (ports) and Greater Bay Area in the future?
Dang Yingjie: The port is the intersection of domestic and international double circulation, and it is an important starting point for opening to the outside world in a wider scope, in a wider field, at a deeper level and at a higher level. It is the duty of the national port management department to implement the requirements of the national development strategy, promote the construction of a new open economic system and serve a higher level of opening up. Free Trade Zone (Hong Kong) and Greater Bay Area, as the frontier positions of reform and opening up, are the main forces in building a new pattern of foreign trade development. We will, as always, support the construction of free trade zones (ports) and Greater Bay Area, and actively support cruise terminals and cargo airports to try first in areas where conditions permit. We are actively studying with relevant departments how to make use of the existing port to expand Greater Bay Area's opening to the outside world, increase the function of helicopter direct flights to Hong Kong and Macao, and realize seamless docking of passengers with different modes of transport at the same port. At the same time, actively support the innovative development of ports in inland areas, support the establishment of freight airport ports in qualified inland areas or increase international passenger and cargo flights at existing ports, continue to support the development of trains in China and Europe, and help inland areas make full use of various open platforms to create new open highlands.
Of course, all port reform and innovation should take into account the overall requirements of the country, the layout of national ports, regional development strategies, the establishment and configuration of port inspection institutions and the actual needs of local open economic development. We will closely focus on the new development stage, implement new development concepts and build a new development pattern. We will, as always, take the initiative to benchmark international advanced standards, pay attention to the systematicness, integrity and coordination of reform and innovation, and innovate port management methods. Promote the comprehensive optimization of port spatial layout and functions, realize complementary and misplaced development of advantages, improve the overall efficiency of port opening, avoid disorderly expansion and homogenization competition, and better promote high-quality economic development with high-level port opening.
Reporter: What are the reasons behind the rapid growth of import and export trade at which ports in China? What is the focus of work during the 14 th Five-Year Plan period?
Dang Yingjie: The development of port opening is closely related to foreign trade import and export, and there must be specific reasons behind the rapid growth of port business. Taking 2020 as an example, it has the following characteristics: First, the growth rate of port foreign trade in the central and western regions is significantly higher than the national average. In 2020, the import and export of foreign trade in the central and western regions will increase by 1 1%, accounting for 20 19 years' increase 1.4 percentage points, reaching 17.5%. The regional development of foreign trade is more balanced. Second, the traffic volume of railway ports has increased substantially. In 2020, China-Europe trains will operate 1.24 million TEUs and transport 1.654.38+0.35 million TEUs, with year-on-year growth of 50% and 56% respectively, and the comprehensive heavy container rate will reach 98.4%. Third, new formats such as cross-border e-commerce and the business growth of Hainan Free Trade Port have become new highlights. The import of duty-free goods in Hainan Free Trade Port increased by 80.5%, and the import and export of cross-border e-commerce was 1.69 trillion yuan, up by 3 1. 1%. Last year, the import and export trade volume of emerging trade formats rose instead of falling, becoming an important force to stabilize foreign trade.
During the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" period, the national port work has made remarkable achievements, but there are still some problems to be improved, such as the efficiency of port construction and operation, the level of port traffic facilitation, and the radiation function of port economy. During the Tenth Five-Year Plan period, in order to fully implement the requirements of high-quality port development in the new era, we put forward the overall working goal of "1+5" to promote the construction of safe, efficient, intelligent, legal and green "five types" ports. "1" is to strengthen the comprehensive performance evaluation of ports. Adhere to the evaluation to promote reform, promote the transformation of port work from "opening" to "management" and promote the transformation of port economy from "channel economy" to "industrial economy". "5" is the "five types" of port construction. To build a safe port, we should fully implement the overall national security concept, coordinate development and safety, and effectively improve the port's ability to prevent and resolve major risks. To build an efficient port, it is necessary to further promote the reform of "simplifying administration and decentralization, strengthening supervision and improving services", optimize processes, reduce bills, improve efficiency and reduce costs, and continuously improve the port business environment. To build a smart port, we should give play to the leading role of science and technology and drive innovation, build a full-process and intelligent port management and operation service system, build a port ruled by law, speed up the construction of a new era port legal system, and create an open, transparent, clean and efficient port law enforcement environment. To build a green port, we must firmly establish the concept of green development and promote efficient and sustainable port operation.
In the next step, together with relevant departments, we will adhere to the general tone of striving for progress while maintaining stability, base ourselves on the new stage of development, implement new development concepts, build a new pattern of development, do a solid job of "six guarantees", fully implement the tasks of "six guarantees", strengthen supervision, optimize services, continuously optimize the port business environment, serve the high-level opening up, promote the high-quality development of foreign trade, and make a good start for the foreign trade during the 14 th Five-Year Plan period.