China Daily:

Recently, an intermediary organization said in a report that some U.S. companies in China are facing challenges such as slower customs clearance, more inspections and delayed approvals for licenses. What's your comment on this report? Moreover, the Ministry of Commerce said on Friday that China will establish a list of unreliable entities. How is this system progressing? Thank you.

Wang Shouwen:

Thanks for your question. I've also noticed the report that you mentioned, saying that some enterprises are experiencing slower customs clearance and longer waits for approvals for licenses in China. I'm not sure whether these problems are true or not, and we need to figure out the details of this situation. But we have already been investigating seriously for more information. I want to stress that China has adopted many measures to simplify its customs clearance process. The number of customs clearance document required for imports and exports has been reduced from more than 80 to more than 40, and this number will further decrease in the future. We are also working on speeding up the handling of these documents so as to reduce the overall time on customs clearance. At the same time, we also aim to cut the expenses paid by enterprises in clearing customs. These facilitation measures that China has adopted are very effective, which was reflected in the World Bank's Doing Business Report last year.

China has been constantly deepening its reforms to delegate power, streamlining its administration and optimizing government services through a series of measures in regards to the aspects of examination and approval you raised. Recently, the relevant authorities have issued a notice to further reduce production permits for industrial goods and types of compulsory certifications for products. This is to enable the market to play a bigger role and allow the government to pay more attention to the supervision and administration work which is something that the government must do. For the specific problems confronted by the companies, they can report them to the local commercial authorities. In general, the business environment in China is good, but for the specific issues encountered by certain companies, I suggest they report to the local commercial authorities, or even use the complaint reporting system. According to China's new Foreign Investment Law passed in March, China will establish and improve the complaints mechanism for foreign companies. With the establishment of the complaints mechanism, I suggest that those enterprises report their specific issues through this channel.

As for the progress of the list of unreliable entities you've asked about, the relevant measures will be released soon. Thank you.