Country for PR: China
Contributor: Xinhua News Agency
Tuesday, March 14 2023 - 22:57
AsiaNet
More Efficient Customs Clearance and More Preferential Policies -- Cross-border Trade Quality of Guangxi Improved and Upgraded
NANNING, China, March 14, 2023 /Xinhua-AsiaNet/--

Right now, at the Youyiguan Port in Pingxiang City, Guangxi, trucks loaded with 
goods are crossing the China-Vietnam border. With the optimization and 
adjustment of entry-exit policies this year, this major trade corridor linking 
China to ASEAN and the rest of the world has returned to its previous bustling 
and vibrant atmosphere.

Due to climate differences, fruits from ASEAN countries such as Vietnam and 
Thailand ripen earlier, and for China, March is the peak season for fruit 
imports. Fruits are perishable goods, posing high requirements on logistics 
transportation, warehousing and customs clearance. According to Huang Feifei, 
the chief of Youyiguan Customs Supervision Section I, "While administering 
strict inspections, the Customs also implements measures such as 'green 
channels' for imported fruits, '7*24 hours' pre-booked clearance, and rapid 
laboratory testing, which substantially shorten customs clearance time for 
ASEAN fruit imports."

In recent years, Guangxi has vigorously supported the infrastructure 
construction of key border ports, including more inspection checkpoints and 
larger cargo transfer sites. At the Youyiguan Port, it only takes around a 
minute or even less for trucks to pass through the checkpoint. According to Xia 
Gaofeng, Director of Chongzuo Foreign Affairs and Commercial Port Bureau, "We 
have implemented a series of reform measures such as one-stop customs 
clearance, fully information-based intelligent customs clearance, 'advance 
review and clearance of import and export goods, and checkpoint inspection and 
release', resulting in a significant reduction of time for vehicle customs 
clearance."

The improvement of customs clearance efficiency has genuinely unleashed the 
potentials of the port, while Guangxi's border financial reform has provided 
great convenience for cross-border trade. In the China (Dongxing Pilot Zone) 
ASEAN Currency Business Center, just a few steps away from Dongxing Port, a 
giant electronic screen displays the official exchange rate of RMB to VDN. 
Today, the area has realized the currency exchange between RMB and VDN using 
direct quote.

Financial reform along the border has benefited the people of both China and 
Vietnam, and cross-border trade has become more prosperous. In recent years, 
financial institutions such as Bank of Guilin have successively carried out 
cross-border transfer of RMB and VDN banknotes, and cross-border finance has 
gradually expanded from merely a transaction settlement business to multiple 
fields.

Wang Yunxiao, Vice President of Guilin Bank said, "We have also launched 
special border prospering and enriching financing products such as 'Huibian 
Loan', 'Hushi Loan' and 'Bianyi Loan' to meet the financial needs of border 
residents engaged in cross-border trade, enterprises engaged in processing of 
imported materials, and purchasers."

Guangxi's excellent border infrastructure is a guarantee for the rapid recovery 
of cross-border trade. The upgrading of border power grid has led to a leap in 
power supply capacity; the acceleration of the construction of border 
communication infrastructure has basically realized 4G network coverage; the 
constantly improving highway network, and the increasingly smoother logistics 
channels, and the like. The infrastructure of Guangxi's border has been 
veritably enhanced due to the concerted efforts of multiple parties.

According to Wu Xiaohui, Executive Deputy Director of the Chongzuo District 
Management Committee of China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone, Pingxiang has 13 
cross-border railway trains and 22 cross-border highway logistics lines, 
capable of reaching more than 20 major hub cities in ASEAN countries, with 
logistics network covering the Indo-China Peninsula.

In order to facilitate investment, trade, cross-border capitals, and 
transportation, the People's Government of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region 
recently issued a multi-pronged plan to further promote the deepening of 
reforms and advance opening-up efforts.

Bai Lan, the Full-time Deputy Director of the Office of China (Guangxi) Pilot 
Free Trade Zone, introduced that the plan calls for the Guangxi Free Trade Zone 
to fully implement the pre-establishment national treatment plus negative 
management system list, and establish an operational and post-operational 
supervision management system that is compatible with the negative list 
management method, while promoting the opening-up of telecommunications, the 
Internet, education and other fields in an orderly manner, as well as the 
vigorously development of new forms and models of foreign trade such as 
cross-border e-commerce, offshore trade, and digital trade.

In addition, in terms of open development and exploration and innovation, the 
China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone will hasten the exploration of 
institutional opening-up, create a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership 
Agreement (RCEP) demonstration projects cluster implemented as per high 
standards, benchmark against the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for 
Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) rules, and carry out pilot trials and risk 
stress tests in key areas such as trade in services, financial opening, and 
digital economy.

Source: The Management Committee of China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone