CCTV:

Pilot free trade zones and free trade ports are at the forefront of China's opening-up. What work did the customs authorities do last year to promote the development of pilot free trade zones and the Hainan Free Trade Port? Thanks!

Lyu Daliang:

Thank you for your question. The construction of free trade zones and free trade ports is a major policy and plan of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council. In accordance with the CPC Central Committee's requirements on "implementing the strategy to upgrade pilot free trade areas" and "accelerating the Hainan Free Trade Port development ," the customs authorities will continue to deepen reform and promote innovation, accelerate the exploration of institutional opening measures such as rules, regulations, management, and standards, and actively support the development of pilot free trade zones and the Hainan Free Trade Port.  

In terms of supporting the development of pilot free trade zones, the customs authorities insists on institutional innovation as the core, upholds replicability and promotion as the basic requirements, and actively carries out the innovation of the customs supervision system in pilot free trade zones. In 2022, local customs authorities filed 33 innovations in customs supervision to the GACC, including a management mode on tracing to the source of Hainan 's offshore duty-free commodities. The GACC reviewed 53 innovative measures previously filed. It formed two innovative systems, including the "enterprise and group processing trade bonded supervision mode" and "international voyage ship transfer data reuse mode,” and replicated and promoted them across the country. Customs statistics show that in 2022, the total import and export value of China's pilot free trade zones was 7.5 trillion yuan, an increase of 14.5%. Among them, the export value was 3.3 trillion yuan, an increase of 18.1%, and the import value was 4.2 trillion yuan, an increase of 11.8%.

In terms of supporting the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port, the customs authorities insist that “opening-up” can be achieved by way of “management.” We have drafted the “Regulations of the People's Republic of China on the Supervision of the Hainan Free Trade Port ,” and continuously promoted the implementation of early harvest policies such as “zero tariffs" to deliver results. We have accelerated the expansion of the pilot project of the "first-line release, second-line control" import and export policy system, approving and issuing a list of pilot enterprises. We have formed a "Key Work List" for the entire island's customs closed-up operation, and worked out timetables and wall chart operations to prepare for a comprehensive stress test. In the past two years, the import and export of goods at the Hainan Free Trade Port have developed rapidly. After exceeding 100 billion yuan for the first time in 2021, it reached a new level in 2022, breaking through the 200 billion yuan mark for the first time, reaching 200.95 billion yuan, an increase of 36.8%. Among them, the export value was 72.26 billion yuan, an increase of 120.7%, and the import value was 128.69 billion yuan, an increase of 12.8%. Thank you.