Great changes have taken place in my country's trade with ASEAN
Statistics released by the General Administration of Customs on September 10 show that the 30th anniversary of the establishment of dialogue relations between China and ASEAN, bilateral trade has maintained rapid growth.
In 2020, ASEAN will become my country's largest trading partner, and my country has maintained its status as ASEAN's largest trading partner for 12 consecutive years.
In the first eight months of this year, my country’s imports and exports to ASEAN were US$553.92 billion, an increase of 33.3%, accounting for 14.5% of my country’s total foreign trade imports and exports during the same period.
Rapid growth of trade scale and structural optimization
In the past 30 years, my country's trade with ASEAN has undergone tremendous changes.
According to customs statistics, China-ASEAN bilateral trade increased from 8.36 billion U.S. dollars in 1991 to 685.28 billion U.S. dollars in 2020, an average annual growth rate of 16.5%, which was 3.4 percentage points higher than the overall average annual growth rate of China's foreign trade during the same period.
Since the establishment of dialogue relations between my country and ASEAN in 1991, China and ASEAN countries have become increasingly close to each other. In 2010, the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area was fully completed; in 2013, China and ASEAN joined hands to build a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future; in 2019, China- The "Protocol" for the upgrade of the ASEAN Free Trade Area has fully taken effect, and the development of bilateral economic and trade has achieved world-renowned achievements.
Before the 1990s, my country's imports and exports to ASEAN were of few types and small scale of trade.
Since then, labor-intensive products represented by textiles and clothing accounted for a gradual increase in the proportion of my country’s exports to ASEAN, and imports of crude oil, rubber and logs from ASEAN increased substantially during the same period.
Entering the 21st century, my country’s exports of mechanical and electrical products, textiles and clothing, steel, mobile phones, ships, furniture, fruits, automobiles, and pharmaceuticals to ASEAN are increasing; it imports agricultural products, rubber, oil, natural gas, coal and other primary products and resources from ASEAN. -Type products maintained rapid growth.
Complementary trade structures between the two sides have gradually formed.
Customs clearance is more convenient for both companies
Recently, the starch imported from ASEAN by Guangxi Nongken Mingyang Biochemical Co., Ltd. cleared customs at the port of Qinzhou. With the submission of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area Certificate of Origin, the batch of goods reduced tariffs by more than 60,000 yuan.
"Don't underestimate the certificate of origin, this is the'paper gold' that helps us reduce transaction costs." said the head of foreign trade business of Guangxi Nongken Mingyang Biochemical Group.
Since the launch of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, China Customs has taken the lead in completing negotiations on upgrading rules of origin with ASEAN and implemented it smoothly.
Externally, we will comprehensively strengthen communication and collaboration with the customs of ASEAN countries, and actively promote the electronic networking of origin; internally, we will continuously optimize the business environment and help import and export enterprises to fully enjoy the tariff reduction policies of the agreement.
As of the end of 2020, Chinese companies have benefited from importing goods from the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area of 3.3 trillion yuan, an average annual increase of 27%; more than 90% of the goods between the two parties can enjoy zero-tariff treatment, with a total tax reduction of 314.9 billion yuan .
"my country and ASEAN are highly complementary in economy and trade and have great growth potential." Li Kuiwen, a spokesperson for the General Administration of Customs, said that in order to better serve enterprises in carrying out import and export trade with ASEAN countries and provide more scientific decision-making assistance and information support, the General Administration of Customs The Department and the People’s Government of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region jointly compiled the "China-ASEAN Trade Index", which was released for the first time during the 18th China-ASEAN Expo. High-level and wider areas have played a positive role.
The effect of infrastructure interconnection is prominent
As the “Belt and Road Initiative” continues to deepen and become more practical, a number of major foundations include the China-Laos Railway, the Jakarta-Bandung High-speed Railway, China-Singapore joint construction of a new international land-sea trade channel, and China-India and China-Malaysia “two parks” and other major foundations. The smooth implementation of the facility project has effectively improved the level of interconnection between my country and ASEAN countries, and the cross-border logistics between the two sides has become smoother.
At present, the new western land-sea channel sea-rail intermodal train line has expanded from one line of "Yugui Xin" in 2017 to 6 directions as normal operation. The frequency of operation has increased from 1 line per week to more than 10 lines per day, which has become the western region. The main channel for goods going to sea and the fastest and most convenient channel connecting China and ASEAN under the RCEP framework.
The new western land-sea route train has achieved normal connection with the China-Europe train. Since the beginning of this year, a total of 1,504 TEUs have been connected, providing reliable support for the promotion of domestic and international double circulation, and fully stimulating the trade potential between my country and ASEAN countries.
In order to ensure the smooth operation of the new western land-sea route, 15 customs along the route signed the "Memorandum of Cooperation for Regional Customs to Jointly Support the Construction of the "Western Land-Sea New Channel"," established a liaison and coordination system, strengthened business coordination, and jointly promoted the construction of a regional customs information sharing platform , To further promote the innovation of the regulatory system, dredge the logistics and customs clearance obstacles of the new western land and sea passages, and effectively improve the level of trade safety and facilitation along the passages.
(Reporter Zhang Yi)