A few days ago, Premier Li Keqiang of the State Council presided over an executive meeting of the State Council to determine cross-cyclical adjustment measures to promote the stable development of foreign trade; to make arrangements for the implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement after it took effect.
The meeting pointed out that my country’s rapid growth in imports and exports this year has made important contributions to stabilizing economic growth. However, the current foreign trade is facing increasing uncertainties and unbalanced factors. It is necessary to implement the deployment of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, further expand opening up in accordance with the requirements of the Central Economic Work Conference, launch measures to deal with difficulties and challenges, do a good job in cross-cycle adjustments, help enterprises to relieve difficulties, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, and strive to ensure orders and stabilize expectations. Promote the stable development of foreign trade. One is to strengthen policy support for import and export. Implement tax and fee reduction measures. Speed up the progress of export tax rebates and reduce the average time for tax rebates to less than 6 working days. Guide banks to innovate products such as insurance policy financing in line with the needs of foreign trade companies. Maintain the basic stability of the RMB exchange rate, encourage banks to carry out targeted forward foreign exchange settlement and sale services, and enhance foreign trade companies’ ability to deal with exchange rate risks. Optimize export credit insurance underwriting and claim conditions, and increase protection for small, medium and micro foreign trade enterprises and the risk of cancellation of orders before shipment. Deepen the cooperation and joint construction of the eastern, central and western regions, and the northeast, and support the gradient transfer and acceptance of processing trade. Do a good job in the import of bulk commodities. The second is to further encourage the development of new forms of foreign trade such as cross-border e-commerce. Add a comprehensive pilot zone for cross-border e-commerce. Cultivate a batch of offshore trade center cities (regions). Increase support for the construction and use of overseas warehouses in accordance with market-oriented methods. Optimize the import list of cross-border e-commerce retail products and expand import categories. The third is to strengthen the supporting services for enterprises, and promote the solution of the problems encountered by enterprises in the development of domestic and foreign trade products with the same standard and the same quality, expanding trade channels, and improving the supply chain. In 2022, tax deferred interest will be temporarily exempted for domestic sales of processing trade enterprises. The fourth is to ease the pressure on international logistics. Encourage foreign trade companies and shipping companies to sign long-term agreements. We will crack down on illegal charges and drive up tariffs in accordance with laws and regulations. Support financial institutions to provide inclusive financial support in logistics to qualified small and micro foreign trade enterprises. Fifth, support local governments to establish and improve systems based on actual conditions, actively carry out trade adjustment assistance work, and help stabilize the industrial chain and supply chain.
The meeting pointed out that through the joint efforts of relevant parties at home and abroad, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement will come into effect on January 1, 2022. It is necessary to support enterprises to seize the opportunity of the implementation of the agreement, enhance their competitiveness in participating in the international market, further enhance the level of development of trade and investment, and force the upgrading of domestic industries. One is to encourage enterprises to make good use of member states’ tax reductions and regional origin accumulation rules to expand the export of superior products and the import of competitive products. Make good use of openness commitments and rules, strengthen cooperation in high-end, green industrial chains and manufacturing projects in the region, and improve the level of openness in the service industry and investment. The second is to benchmark international advanced rules to optimize the business environment, actively introduce regional funds and talents, and increase participation in the formulation and connection of international standards. The third is to establish a public service platform and a team of experts for the implementation of the free trade agreement, to further strengthen the training of small, medium and micro enterprises through the government’s purchase of services, and to enhance the understanding and application of the agreement rules. Develop specialized services such as customs clearance and documents to provide convenience for small, medium and micro enterprises. Fourth, continue to promote the effective implementation of more members of the agreement and the institutionalization of the agreement to jointly build a main platform for regional economic and trade cooperation. Help give play to the role of the WTO and insist on free trade. Promote the negotiation of other multilateral and bilateral free trade agreements to promote high-level opening up.
The meeting also studied other matters.
【Editor in charge: Lv Jiashan】