FTA makes the Chinese market a shareable market for the world
At present, China has signed 19 Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with 26 countries and regions. Under the FTA arrangements, more and more foreign products enter the Chinese market, helping China actively implement its import expansion strategy.
In August of this year, 455 boxes of Korean seaweed imported by Weihai Debang Trading Co., Ltd. from Shidao Port arrived in Hong Kong. When the company declared at Rongcheng Customs, it enjoyed the agreed tax rate by virtue of the certificate of origin of the China-Korea Free Trade Agreement. The tariff rate was reduced from 15%. At 9.7%, these imported small foods have saved enterprises more than 1,700 yuan in import taxes.
“Korean snack foods are very popular fast-moving consumer goods in the market. When supermarkets purchase goods, they usually match different products based on sales. Therefore, when we import goods, we also have a small quantity and a large number of batches.” said Bi Xiaodong, the company’s manager, despite the fact that The tax savings for a single batch of certificates of origin is not large, but because of the large number of batches, the accumulated amount is also considerable. According to statistics, in the first eight months of this year, a total of 175 batches of imported goods of this company have enjoyed tariff concessions with the certificate of origin, and a total of 1.61 million yuan in tax reductions and exemptions.
According to statistics from Rongcheng Customs, in the first eight months of this year, a total of 1,904 imported goods at Rongcheng Port enjoyed free trade agreement tax concessions, with a tax reduction of 58.78 million yuan.
Since the implementation of the "upgraded version" of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement in August 2019, as of September this year, an innovative technology company in Guangzhou imported goods worth US$27.74 million through the China-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement and obtained tariff concessions. 14.96 million yuan. The staff of the company said that the "upgraded" free trade agreement has added "complete production (PE)" and "tax classification change (CTH)" two types of origin identification standards, more respect for objective trade practices, and help companies enjoy the agreement in accordance with regulations. Concessions and burden reduction.
However, some interviewed companies still stated that problems such as the inability to obtain timely and accurate preferential information for related industries and the complexity of the rules of origin of the free trade agreement prevent them from using the free trade agreement.
In order to guide enterprises to make full use of the preferential arrangements of free trade agreements to expand imports, Qin Yang, member of the Expert Committee of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and vice chairman of the Customs and Trade Facilitation Committee of the ICC China National Committee, suggested that the Ministry of Commerce, the General Administration of Customs, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and other relevant departments and agencies It is necessary to actively promote the promotion and training of free trade agreements to facilitate Chinese and foreign enterprises to understand, master and use the preferential policies of free trade agreements, and actively provide enterprises with consulting services including free trade agreement tariff planning and guidance on the use of preferential rules of origin. . At the same time, the General Administration of Customs should strengthen the functional management of origin visas, improve the level of visa intelligence, actively explore and expand the scope of applicable countries for the free trade agreement origin electronic network and preferential origin certificate self-printing, and continue to promote the autonomous declaration of origin, Reform measures such as approved exporters and pre-rules of origin have improved the facilitation of customs clearance of goods.
"In recent years, under the dual background of the slowdown in global economic and trade growth and the impact of the epidemic, the free trade agreement has become a stabilizer and ballast stone for global trade, and it has played an important role in stabilizing my country's exports and promoting exports." Nanjing University Professor Han Jian, executive vice president of the Comprehensive Research Institute of the Free Trade Zone, said that China's trade with FTA partners currently accounts for 35%. In terms of expanding imports, the free trade agreement has played a more prominent role. China’s imports of goods trade currently rank second in the world, second only to the United States. In 2018, my country’s imports from FTA partner countries accounted for 32.4% of total imports. In the first half of 2021, this proportion has reached 41.42%. China's initiative to expand imports and huge consumption potential markets makes FTA partner countries become China’s economic growth The most direct and biggest beneficiary.
Han Jian analyzes that in terms of promoting imports, FTA not only drastically reduces tariff levels and helps companies reduce import costs, but also has three functions. One is to reduce non-tariff trade barriers. For example, non-tariff trade barriers, such as sanitary and phytosanitary measures, standards, technical regulations, and conformity assessment procedures, currently have a greater impact on trade, and free trade agreements promote the inspection and testing of import links through information exchange and cooperation among member states in these fields. As a result, mutual recognition has further enabled more green, safe, and high-quality products to gain a greater market share in China. Second, increase import channels and methods. For example, RCEP requires the promotion of paperless trade, recognizes that electronic documents and paper documents have the same legal effect, and enhances mutual policy trust, mutual recognition of regulations and enterprise interoperability in the field of e-commerce among members, which will benefit the development of cross-border e-commerce imports. . Third, reduce the uncertainty of trade policy. Free trade agreements are binding international agreements that help reduce trade disputes and stabilize traders’ policy expectations.
"At present, the combination of the free trade zone strategy and the expansion of imports is of positive significance. It is also conducive to promoting the recovery of the world economy and providing sustained momentum for regional and global economic development." Han Jian summarized it in three points: First, promote the region. Economic integration has become more deeply integrated. For example, in the field of RCEP goods trade, the rules for the accumulation of origin in the region are encouraged to encourage the use of intermediate products in the region and focus on expanding the production of intermediate products. This will promote the deep integration of the industrial chain, supply chain and value chain in the region, and promote the division of labor in the industrial chain. Optimization and upgrade.
Secondly, further build a world-class business environment. The free trade agreement itself is the touchstone of the domestic business environment. It requires the establishment of a high-standard market economy system in the country, from the opening of the "flow of commodities and factors" to the opening of the "higher level of the system", and the establishment of a higher level of openness. New economic system. By advancing the opening up of trade in goods, service trade, investment, and the movement of natural persons, we will promote the implementation of higher standard rules in trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, intellectual property protection, trade remedies, e-commerce, small and medium-sized enterprises, and economic and technical cooperation. Makes China a better business environment, which is conducive to further expanding imports from FTA partner countries. At the same time, there will be a spillover effect, expanding imports from other non-FTA partner countries in the world, making the Chinese market a world market and a shared market.
In addition, China's expansion of imports from partner countries, especially raw material products, will help ease the pressure of rising costs for Chinese companies. At the same time, making the Chinese market a strong magnetic field for partner countries will be more conducive to signing higher-level free trade agreements with other countries in the world.
Talking about the new development pattern, how to combine the expansion of imports with the construction of a high-standard free trade zone network? Han Jian said that on the one hand, it is necessary to unblock the domestic and international cycles, and to get through the pain points and blockages in the double cycle of the import link. This not only requires the smooth flow of commodities, personnel, and elements, but also promotes the organic compatibility of domestic and international market rules and standards, and breaks the barriers between domestic and international cycles in terms of system, technology, and rules. High-level free trade agreements not only have higher requirements in terms of trade and investment facilitation, but also require seamless integration in rules, regulations, and standards. Therefore, benchmarking with international high-level economic and trade rules such as RCEP and CPTPP should be promoted. my country's import trade promotes the core key to the construction of innovation demonstration zones. On the other hand, focusing on the domestic cycle, taking advantage of the ultra-large-scale market, building a more transparent and open market economy system, and speeding up environmental protection, investment protection, Negotiations on new issues such as government procurement and e-commerce will be more conducive to my country's construction of a global high-standard free trade zone network.