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We noticed that the private sector has become the largest contributor to China's foreign trade growth. What were the characteristics of import and export for Chinese private businesses in 2020? What new measures will the General Administration of Customs (GAC) introduce to support private businesses in foreign trade? Thank you.

Li Kuiwen:

Thank you for the questions. As I said just now, the private sector has become the largest foreign trade entity in China. In 2020, China's private sector registered 14.98 trillion yuan in imports and exports, an increase of 11.1%, accounting for 46.6% of the country's total foreign trade volume, 3.9 percentage points higher than the previous year. Specifically, exports of the sector grew by 12.3% year-on-year to 9.99 trillion yuan, while imports increased by 8.8% to 4.99 trillion yuan. The main highlights are as follows:

First, the private sector showed greater resilience in foreign trade. In the face of the unexpected COVID-19 epidemic, private businesses rose to the challenge and made full use of their flexibility to explore the international market, showing greater resilience in foreign trade. The annual growth rate of foreign trade and exports in the private sector was 9.2 and 8.3 percentage points higher than that of the country's total volume, respectively. Imports in the sector increased by 8.8% last year, while the country's imports declined by 0.7%.

Second, the development of private businesses in different regions became increasingly coordinated. In 2020, the imports and exports of private businesses in central and western regions grew by 15.9%, 5.6 percentage points higher than in the eastern regions. Nine out of the top 10 provinces with the highest foreign trade growth rates in the private sector are from China's central and western regions. Guizhou and Yunnan occupied the top two positions.

Third, private businesses made more efforts to expand their market. In 2020, private sector exports to the EU, the US, Japan, South Korea, among other traditional markets, grew by 14.9%, 23.4%, 12.9%, and 18.6%, respectively, and exports to the ASEAN increased by 15.1%, all recording double-digit growth.

To support the development of the private sector, the GAC will continue to implement decisions and plans made by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council and work to create a favorable environment for the development of foreign trade in the private sector. We will take measures in three major aspects:

First, improve the efficiency of customs clearance and optimize the business environment at ports. We promote the practice of "declaring import and export goods in advance," upgrade the "two-step" declaration process, and improve the "two-stage access supervision." We further streamline customs clearance procedures, reduce the time of cargo clearance, and lower related costs for enterprises.

Second, earnestly implement every measure to cut taxes and fees. We release preferential tax policies in a timely manner and offer more detailed interpretations to ensure enterprises benefit from the policies. For those enterprises that fall behind with their taxes due to the impact of COVID-19, we extend payment deadlines and exempt or reduce overdue fines. We suspend interest on deferred tax for domestic sales of trade processing enterprises and expand the pilot policy of selective tariffs on domestic sales.

Third, carry out in-depth research and studies in enterprises and offer targeted support. We give full play to the role of the customs service hotline 12360, our online survey system, the WeChat platform for credit management, and coordinators between customs offices and enterprises. By using all of these channels, we aim to better understand the needs and difficulties of enterprises and do our best to offer them targeted assistance regarding tax payments, credit management, and customs clearance, etc.

In the next step, we will continue to work in line with the requirements ordered by the central government on ensuring stability on the six fronts and security in the six areas and introduce a larger number of more targeted policies to support the development of private businesses.

Shou Xiaoli:

In the coming days, we will hold a series of briefings on China's economic performance in 2020, and we welcome your attendance. Today's briefing is hereby concluded. Thank you.

Translated and edited by Zhu Bochen, Li Huiru, Zhang Jiaqi, Zhang Rui, Liu Jianing, Zhang Junmian, Wang Yiming, Yang Xi, Xu Xiaoxuan, Huang Shan, Wang Qian, Lin Liyao, Wang Wei, Xiang Bin, Yuan Fang, Zhang Liying, Wang Zhiyong, and Tom Arnstein. In case of any discrepancy between the English and Chinese texts, the Chinese version is deemed to prevail.