From January to October, Hunan's foreign trade enterprises enjoyed a tariff reduction of 896 million yuan under preferential trade agreements, according to data released by the Changsha Customs on November 14.

In the first ten months, the Changsha Customs issued 40,200 certificates of origin for export goods, a year-on-year increase of 10.73%. The certificates helped Hunan enterprises reduce tariffs by 635 million yuan for products in importing countries. The Changsha Customs handled tariff concessions of 261 million yuan for 3.244-billion-yuan goods imported from countries covered by preferential trade agreements.

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement entered into force in the Philippines on June 2, 2023, meaning the free trade pact is now in effect for all its 15 members. The full implementation of the RCEP are expected to bring business opportunities for import and export enterprises. During the January-October period, the Changsha Customs issued 1,683 RCEP certificates of origin, involving 792 million yuan. The figures increased 27.79% and 7.81% respectively. For instance, the Sany Automobile Manufacturing Co., Ltd. has applied for 22 RCEP certificates of origin since the beginning of this year, involving 120 million yuan. Hunan's exported products benefiting from the RCEP trade agreement are mainly clothes, aluminum powder, daily ceramics, and fireworks. The imported products are mainly hydraulic valves and synthetic rubber.

It has become more convenient for foreign trade enterprises to apply for certificates of origin, thanks to the implementation of the previous polices such as cancelling filing procedures for enterprises of countries of origin, self-service printing of certificates of origins, and approved exporters.

So far, Hunan has 23 approved exporters recognized by the customs authorities. In the first ten months, these approved exporters issued 88 origin declarations, involving 21.38 million yuan.

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

Translator: Xiao Juan

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn