Shou Xiaoli:

Thank you, Mr. Sheng. Now, Mr. Wang please.

Wang Lingjun:

Ladies and gentlemen, friends from the media, good morning.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, China has expedited the building of a new system of an open economy and made historic achievements in terms of foreign trade. Customs statistics show that the volume and quality of China's foreign trade have both increased.

In terms of the volume, China's foreign trade in goods kept hitting new highs over the past decade. The volume has increased from 24.4 trillion yuan in 2012 to 39.1 trillion yuan in 2021, up by 14.7 trillion yuan. The increment is close to the total volume of foreign trade in 2009. China's foreign trade in goods exceeded 30 trillion yuan in 2018 and approached the 40-trillion-yuan threshold level in 2021. China's global market share increased from 10.4% in 2012 to 13.5% in 2021, further consolidating the country's role as the world's largest trader of goods. Since 2017, China has been the world's largest trader in goods for five consecutive years. The rapid growth of China's foreign trade in goods in the past decade fully reflects that China is not only the "world's factory" but also the "world's market." It has provided the global market with a great variety of high-quality and affordable goods while offering tremendous opportunities for other countries through the vast Chinese market.

In terms of quality, China continues to make progress in ensuring high-quality development of foreign trade. Foreign trade entities have been further invigorated. The number of enterprises dealing in imports and exports in China increased by 1.7 times in the past decade. China's "circle of friends" in foreign trade has been expanded. Its trade with countries along the route of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) keeps improving with higher connectivity, and its development priorities of domestic regions are better aligned. Foreign trade in the central and western regions accounted for 17.7% of China's total in 2021, up 6.6 percentage points compared to 11.1% in 2012. China's foreign trade structure in goods has been further optimized, and the new growth momentum of foreign trade keeps emerging. In the past decade, the high-quality development of foreign trade speaks vividly of the transformation and upgrade from "made in China" to "intelligent manufacturing in China." China's foreign trade has demonstrated a stronger capacity in participating in international competition, played a bigger role in fueling the global economy, and seen a stronger foundation for long-term growth.

Over the past decade, customs authorities across China have worked to serve national economic and social development, enhance regulation and improve services, which has promoted the high-quality development of foreign trade. First, the business environment at ports has been continuously optimized. The number of documents required for imports and exports was reduced from 86 to 41. The overall time needed for customs clearance has been reduced by more than half over the past four years, and every minute saved can translate to enterprises' economic benefits. Second, the establishment of platforms for opening up has been advanced. We have promoted the innovative development of integrated bonded areas. Currently, there are 156 such areas nationwide. We have also innovated the customs supervision system of pilot free trade zones (FTZs). Under the principle of opening up wider while ensuring effective supervision, we have developed the customs control framework for the Hainan Free Trade Port. The imports and exports of integrated bonded areas, pilot FTZs and Hainan Free Trade Port have increased significantly. Third, we have supported the development of new business forms of foreign trade. We have introduced customs supervision modes such as "bonded import," "business-to-business (B2B) direct export" and "overseas warehouse." These have met the needs of cross-border e-commerce enterprises and turned global shopping into a reality. Fourth, we have comprehensively strengthened international cooperation with customs authorities overseas. We have implemented General Secretary Xi Jinping's "Smart Customs, Smart Borders and Smart Connectivity" initiative and established friendly and cooperative ties with customs authorities in 171 countries and regions. We have extensively participated in the formulation of rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the World Customs Organization (WCO), engaged in negotiations for free trade agreements such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and proactively played our part in globally coordinated governance of customs. We have supported the joint construction of the BRI. From 2013 to 2021, more than 100 kinds of quality agri-food products have entered the Chinese market. We also fostered cooperation on the mutual recognition of Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) status. More than 4,000 Chinese companies with high-level AEO status enjoy the same convenient clearance procedures abroad as in China. This has reduced trade costs and provided a favorable external environment for China's foreign trade.

China's foreign trade got off to a generally stable start this year. However, due to various impacts from home and abroad, the country is under growing pressure to ensure stable performance in foreign trade. The CPC Committee of the General Administration of Customs will firmly follow the decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council and keep innovating the customs control system, thus contributing to the overall development of foreign trade and setting the stage for the 20th CPC National Congress with outstanding achievements.

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