Chinese consumers have more "shopping carts"!

Recently, eight departments including the Ministry of Finance issued an announcement that starting from March 1 this year, the new version of the cross-border e-commerce retail import goods list will be implemented.

This adjustment adds 29 items such as tomato juice to the 2019 edition. According to the conversion and adjustment of tax items in recent years, technical adjustments are made to relevant tax items, and some product remarks are adjusted.

What is the significance of the release of the new version of the list?

What has changed since implementation?

What will be the development momentum of cross-border e-commerce in the future?

Both new and optimized

——Added 29 items, adjusted the remarks of 206 items, and the "shopping cart" of domestic residents is more expensive

  The cross-border e-commerce retail import commodity list, also known as the positive list, refers to the implementation of the positive list management for cross-border e-commerce retail imports. Commodities not on the list shall not be sold in the form of cross-border e-commerce retail imports.

  The "List of Cross-border E-commerce Retail Imported Commodities" has been adjusted several times since its introduction in 2016. The number of commodity tax items has continued to increase, and the categories have been gradually enriched. The boom of e-commerce.

Among the 1,240 items released in the list in 2016, it covers food and beverages, clothing, shoes and hats, household appliances, and some domestic hot-selling products such as cosmetics, children's toys, fresh food, and health care products; in 2018, products such as fitness equipment were added, and the list of tax items The number reached 1,321; in 2019, frozen aquatic products, alcohol, electrical appliances and other commodities were added, and the number of list tax items reached 1,413.

  In this adjustment, on the basis of the "List of Cross-border E-commerce Retail Imported Commodities (2019 Edition)", 29 items of commodities with strong consumer demand in recent years, including ski equipment, household dishwashers, golf equipment, and tomato juice, have been added. Food, household appliances, sporting goods and other categories, the number of listed products reached 1,476.

  Among them, the adjustment of relevant commodity tax items such as "ski boots", "ski boots fasteners" and "other ski equipment" has made many ski enthusiasts applaud "good".

"The successful conclusion of the Beijing Winter Olympics has increased consumers' enthusiasm for ice and snow sports, and the list of ski equipment has been added to the list, which is conducive to promoting the popularization of ice and snow sports in China, driving the whole people to participate in ice and snow sports, and also increasing foreign countries for domestic consumers. Supply of high-quality ski equipment." said Jiang Zhao, an expert at the Circulation and Consumption Research Institute of the Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce.

  This list adjustment not only adds new ones, but also optimizes some existing products.

For example, in accordance with the conversion and adjustment of tax items in recent years, technical adjustments have been made to relevant tax items, involving imported commodities such as frozen scallops, bird's nests, olive oil, and down jackets.

In addition, in order to implement relevant international conventions and strengthen import supervision and management, the list has adjusted 206 commodity remarks, involving butter, cheese, etc.

  In terms of new remarks, the list adds "commodities that are included in the "Catalogue of Imported and Exported Wild Fauna and Flora Commodities" and cannot provide "Certificate of Species other than the "Catalogue of Imported and Exported Wild Fauna and Flora Commodities" by the Office of the Import and Export Administration of Endangered Species of the People's Republic of China. Excluded", "Except for goods listed in the "Catalogue of Prohibited Imports (Seventh Batch)", and "Only Online Shopping Bonded Commodities".

"The addition of these remarks is based on the consideration of the connection with the relevant international conventions, which is conducive to providing a clearer basis for import supervision." Jiang Zhao said, "For example, China prohibits the production and import and export of mercury content exceeding ppm First, cosmetics and mercury-containing local antibacterial agents, thermometers, sphygmomanometers and other commodities, the relevant departments have revised and improved the list of animals, plants and their products and other quarantine objects that are prohibited from being carried or sent into the country, and the scope of application includes cross-border e-commerce. Direct purchase of imported animals and plants, their products and other quarantine objects.”

Expansion and quality improvement, docking consumption upgrade

——It not only expands the choice of consumers, but also helps to promote the healthy development of new business forms of cross-border e-commerce

  Why is the list frequently adjusted?

Many experts believe that the escalating consumer demand of residents in recent years is an important factor driving the expansion of the list.

  Jiang Zhao said that the new version of the list further expands the categories of imports, enriches the content of commodities, encourages foreign companies to sell high-quality imported commodities in China, adapts to the needs of Chinese consumers for diversified and high-quality consumption upgrades, and reflects that China's cross-border consumption meets the people's better life. need and share the characteristics of the Chinese market with the world.

"At present, consumers' 'buying the world' and their pursuit of quality life are an important manifestation of consumption upgrades. The large consumption demand generated has strongly promoted the expansion of the list of cross-border e-commerce retail imported goods." Jiang Zhao said.

  "The new version of the list has added 29 commodity tax items such as tomato juice and household dishwashers, as well as products such as cat litter and foot stickers, which reflects the people's livelihood orientation of the content of the list." Zheng Yi, a lecturer at the School of Civil, Commercial and Economic Law, China University of Political Science and Law, said, " These are daily necessities with strong consumer demand in recent years. After being included in the list, people can purchase related imported products through cross-border e-commerce, and the prices will drop accordingly, which is conducive to meeting the needs of consumption upgrades.”

  A Qiao, who owns a self-bred cat house in Beijing, said that after the implementation of the new list, a certain foreign brand cat litter that he commonly used has also received a certain discount on the e-commerce platform.

"I use a lot of cat litter in my house. In the past, I had to negotiate the price with the agent manufacturer directly. I bought it directly on the e-commerce platform. With the official flagship store of this brand on the platform, the discounts are not small, and individual customers who have a small demand for cat litter can also enjoy affordable prices.”

  In addition, the rapid development of cross-border e-commerce constitutes an environmental factor for the adjustment of the list.

  In the context of the continuous impact of the epidemic on traditional trade methods, the new business form of cross-border e-commerce has become a lot of import and export enterprises due to its unique advantages such as non-contact delivery, online transactions, and short transaction chains. Priority options for transformation and upgrading.

As a new form of foreign trade development, cross-border e-commerce also plays an important role in securing orders, securing markets, and securing shares.

  Statistics previously released by the General Administration of Customs show that in 2021, China's cross-border e-commerce imports and exports will be 1.98 trillion yuan, an increase of 15%, of which exports will be 1.44 trillion yuan, an increase of 24.5%; the number of cross-border e-commerce comprehensive test areas will reach 132, The pilot of cross-border e-commerce retail import will expand all cities (and regions) where pilot free trade zones, cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones, comprehensive bonded zones, import trade promotion innovation demonstration zones, and tax declaration logistics centers (Type B) are located.

  Zhang Jianping, deputy director of the Academic Committee of the Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce, believes that the scale of cross-border consumption continues to expand, indicating that the market demand is strong, and a considerable part of the consumption demand originally generated by overseas travel is realized through cross-border consumption.

Its high growth rate also shows the efficiency and convenience of new business formats and new models, indicating that Chinese consumers' demand for mid-to-high-end products is rapidly increasing.

  The adjustment of the commodity list not only conforms to the trend of opening up commodity consumption and expands the choice of consumers, but also helps to promote the healthy development of new cross-border e-commerce formats and further expand the scale of operations of cross-border e-commerce platforms and enterprises.

  Since the implementation of the new version of the list, many customs have carried out "one-to-one" policy interpretation and business guidance, connected with cross-border e-commerce industry associations, extensively explored public data information such as brand official websites and large shopping platforms, and sorted out popular commodity information for front-line law enforcement reference. , to ensure the implementation of new policies and measures; major e-commerce platforms have taken action, actively introduced new products, seized opportunities to cooperate with overseas merchants, and helped a large number of high-quality overseas brands enter the "good things" list of Chinese consumers through cross-border e-commerce channels .

Strong supervision, the future of cross-border e-commerce can be expected

——Improve the level of intelligent supervision, and the steady development trend of cross-border e-commerce will not change

  While the list is constantly enriched, how to do a good job in import supervision and management has become an important issue.

  "There are more and more types of imported commodities, which are inevitably mixed, which poses a greater challenge to supervision." Zhang Jianping said that the new version of the list also reflects this aspect. The purpose of technical adjustment of relevant tax items and new commodity remarks is to strengthen Guidance and management of imported commodities, promote the development of trade norms, and protect the interests of consumers.

"In addition, cross-border supervision also needs to strengthen policy communication and dialogue with trading partner countries. RCEP currently has an e-commerce chapter, which needs to be implemented together with trading partner countries and play a leading and exemplary role. Since China has applied to join the DEPA digital economy The partnership agreement, in the future pilot free trade zones and cross-border e-commerce pilot cities should speed up the first trial." Zhang Jianping said.

  Jiang Zhao suggested that in the future, the application of digital technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and blockchain in cross-border e-commerce retail import supervision should be strengthened to improve the level of intelligent supervision.

"At the same time, we must pay attention to the epidemic prevention and control of the entire logistics chain, especially the monitoring and supervision of imported cold chain food. Strengthen the disinfection of storage facilities, commodity packaging, etc., and regularly conduct nucleic acid testing and screening for front-line logistics personnel."

  Recently, the State Administration for Market Regulation held a teleconference on the epidemic prevention and control work of the market supervision system, requesting to strengthen the guidance of e-commerce platforms, focusing on imported cold chain food, epidemic prevention supplies and other commodities, and strengthening the monitoring and supervision of online transactions.

  Strengthening supervision is to make the development of cross-border e-commerce trade more stable and better.

Despite the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, experts generally believe that the good development momentum of China's cross-border e-commerce will continue, and there is still a lot of room for growth in the future.

  In order to promote the further development of cross-border e-commerce, relevant support policies have been followed up this year.

According to the "14th Five-Year Plan for E-commerce Development", China will support the high-level development of cross-border e-commerce, optimize the supervision of cross-border e-commerce retail imports, enrich the categories and sources of goods, and improve the level of consumer protection for cross-border e-commerce; recently The "Notice on Making Good Use of the Service Trade Innovation and Development Guidance Fund to Support the Development of New Business Forms and New Models of Trade" issued by the Ministry of Commerce proposed to support the construction of a supporting service system suitable for the development of cross-border e-commerce; the previously issued "China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation of the Ministry of Commerce" The Circular on Increasing Export Credit Insurance Support to Do a Good Job in Cross-Cycle Adjustment and Further Stabilizing Foreign Trade also clarifies that it is encouraged to increase support for new business formats such as cross-border e-commerce and overseas warehouses, and to support the improvement of the digital and intelligent level of overseas warehouses. Optimize and improve the layout.

  "These policies have provided strong support for promoting the stable development of cross-border e-commerce from different levels." Zhang Jianping said that it is expected that cross-border e-commerce will continue to maintain stable growth, and its proportion in international trade will continue to increase, and the steady development trend will not change.

"In the future, the categories of imported goods are expected to further increase, while improving the purchasing convenience of imported e-commerce products and improving the after-sales service of imported e-commerce products, consumers will have more choices." Zhang Jianping said.

(Reporter Kong Dechen)