BEIJING — China's General Administration of Customs has introduced a series of innovative measures aimed at stabilizing foreign trade growth and supporting business needs, with particular focus on reforming the processing trade sector, demonstrating the government's new approach to promoting high-quality economic development.
Modernizing Processing Trade Management
The customs authority is optimizing processing trade management models to encourage enterprises to explore more innovation in high-tech and high-value-added sectors. This shift in management approach signals that government support for foreign trade development extends beyond policy statements to substantive institutional design.
The newly introduced bonded maintenance supervision measures provide companies with greater operational flexibility, allowing deeper exploration of high-tech, low-pollution maintenance services. This initiative is expected to help the industry move up the global value chain.
Emphasizing Industrial Upgrading
The measures highlight the critical importance of industrial transformation. Under traditional processing trade models, companies often struggle to maintain long-term competitive advantages. The new policy direction explicitly requires businesses to integrate core functions such as R&D, design, testing, and maintenance into their processing trade operations to increase overall added value.
This transformation is expected to not only enhance companies' technological capabilities but also strengthen China's competitiveness in global trade, facilitating the shift from "Made in China" to "Created in China."
Streamlining Administrative Processes
Customs authorities are simplifying processing trade procedures and reducing administrative approval requirements to effectively lower operational costs for businesses. This deregulation effort not only improves administrative efficiency but also creates a more favorable environment for small and medium-sized enterprises to compete in challenging markets.
While maintaining effective supervision, customs officials are striving to achieve an optimal balance between deregulation and service, demonstrating a deep understanding of actual business needs.
The new measures from China's Customs Administration present both opportunities and challenges for the foreign trade sector, particularly in advancing processing trade toward higher-end, greener development. This policy adjustment is expected to effectively support healthy, stable growth in foreign trade while laying a solid foundation for positive economic interactions between China and international markets.
