To support the growth of exports and promote trade, China’s Customs
has taken many measures to ensure more effective customs clearance,
Zhao Guanghua, vice commissioner of General Administration of
Customs( GAC), told a press conference held by the Information
Office under the State Council Thursday.
As
the global economy speeds up, ways to ease trade has become a
common concern world-wide and among international economic
operation organizations, Zhao said.
The Seventh Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
Customs-Business Dialogue, for example, that will be held August
13-14, set its theme as "The New Economy -- Moving Customs-Business
Partnership and Trade Facilitation to the Next Level," Zhao
said.
To
promote reform and facilitation, the following measures have been
taken by the Chinese Customs:
- New 24-hour clearance facilities at several busy ports of
entry.
- Faster transit along the Yangtze River and highways in
Guangdong and from Shanghai to Nanjing.
- A new "China Electricity System” for exchange
collection.
- Clearance reform that simplifies procedures.
With nationwide custom clearance reform implemented early this
year, the average time for clearance has now dropped from 2.2 days
to 1.5 days. The average time it takes to clear lorries crossing
the Shenzhen border has been reduced to only one minute, said
Zhao.
In
the question-and-answer period, Zhao also talked about China's
battle against smuggling and corruption.
The anti-smuggling campaign has resulted in a sharp increase in
duty collected by customs Zhao said. Duty collected by Chinese
Customs hit 144.8 billion yuan (US$17.5 billion) in the first seven
months of this year which was 26.4 billion yuan (US$3.2 billion)
more than the same period last year, according to Zhao.
Zhao said he expects that the total duty collected by Chinese
Customs this year will surpass that of last year.
(China.org.cn By Xiaowei 08/10/2001)