China set up its first pilot free trade zone (FTZ) in Shanghai on September 29, 2013, and this year marks the 10th anniversary of the country’s pilot FTZ construction. The import and export value of China (Hunan) Pilot FTZ reached 114.579 billion CNY in the first eight months of this year, accounting for 27.3% of Hunan Province's total, the Changsha Customs announced on September 29.

Over the past three years, the Changsha Customs has achieved fruitful results in advancing Hunan FTZ construction:

In terms of China-Africa cooperation, it released the China-Africa trade index for the first time at the Third China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo; assisted the General Administration of Customs in promoting the signing of the first AEO mutual recognition agreement between China and Uganda; completed the assessment of approval for Tanzanian wild aquatic products, Gambian cashews, and other six kinds of products; and, carried forward the first import of Kenyan anchovies.

Hunan products are delivered more smoothly out of the province, thanks to systematic innovation. The Changsha Customs has taken the lead among the inland areas of China in opening up a new land transportation channel under the Hunan-Guangdong-Hong Kong Single E-lock Scheme (SELS), reducing the transportation time of goods between Hunan, Guangdong, and Hong Kong. By the end of this August, 88 batches of goods were imported and exported between Hunan and Hong Kong under the SELS, with a value of 240 million CNY. The customs initiated a new mode of information-aided supervision of fireworks exports to ensure the safe and stable export of fireworks, increasing the efficiency of customs clearance by 20%.

Meanwhile, the Changsha Customs has created China's first innovative valuation model of excluding imported transit goods inland waterway freight from the duty-paid price, eliminating the cost gap between inland waterways and coastal ports in the tax base. Since its official implementation in September 2021, it has helped enterprises save 9.662 million CNY in taxes, which has been expanded throughout the country since this May.

Its new supervision model for international mail, international express, and cross-border e-commerce business has been published and promulgated by the Inter-ministerial Joint Conference of the State Council. This was the first time that the Hunan FTZ has been deployed as a national examplary model.

A total of 25.59 million items have been cleared by the Changsha Customs in the period between the establishment of the Hunan FTZ and the end of this August.

The Changsha Customs, together with science and technology, public security and other departments, has jointly created a "one-stop service center for foreigners working in China". The center has reduced the number of examination and approval procedures by about 50% and compressed the time limit for examination and approval by nearly 70%.

This article is from the Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Yu Jiangjiang

Chinese source: Official WeChat Account of the China (Hunan) Pilot Free Trade Zone