1.The General Administration of Customs issued Announcement on Carrying Out Pre-Classification Consulting Services for Imported Commodity Samples (No. 172, 2019).
In order to meet the needs of import and export companies of understanding the classification of imported commodity samples in advance, the General Administration of Customs issued an announcement on Carrying out Pre-Classification Consulting Services for Imported Commodity Samples (No. 172, 2019). This policy shall take effect as of December 20, 2019.
2.The Ministry of Finance issued Announcement of the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council on the Trial Implementation of the Exclusion of U.S. Products Subject to Additional Tariffs (No. 2, [2019]).
In accordance with Announcement of the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council on the Trial Implementation of the Exclusion of U.S. Products Subject to Additional Tariffs (No. 2, [2019]), the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council organized the review of the effective applications filed by applicants about the first batch (50 billion dollars) of U.S. products subject to additional tariffs, decided the first sets of lists of products to be excluded by following relevant procedures, and issued Announcement of the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council on the First Set of Lists of U.S. Products to be Excluded from the First Group of U.S. Products Subject to Additional Tariffs (No. 6 [2019]) on September 11, 2019. The first set of lists of products to be excluded includes 17 types of products in areas such as agriculture and animal husbandry, petrochemicals, active pharmaceutical ingredients, and medical devices. These items will be exempted from tariffs imposed in retaliation for U.S. tariffs as part of a "Section 301" probe, starting from September 17, 2019, to September 16, 2020 (one year).
3.The Ministry of Finance issued Notice of The Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council on the 2020 Import Tentative Tariff Adjustment Plan and Other Adjustments (No. 50, [2019]).
In order to optimize the composition of trade and advance a high-quality economic development, in accordance with the relevant regulations of Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Import and Export Duties, the Customs Tariff Commission will adjust the import duties of some products since January, 1, 2020.
4.The General Administration of Customs issued Procedures of the General Administration of Customs on Customs Control in Yangshan Special Comprehensive Bonded Zone (No. 170, 2019).
In order to fully develop the role of Yangshan Special Comprehensive Bonded Zone of Lin-gang Special Area as a primary carrier to benchmark its performance against that of the most competitive free trade zones recognized by the international world and regulate the Customs’ control over Yangshan Special Comprehensive Bonded Zone, the General Administration of Customs issued the procedures to control Yangshan Special Comprehensive Bonded Zone. These procedures shall take effect as of the day Yangshan Special Comprehensive Bonded Zone passes acceptance inspection and is put into operation.
5.The Administrative Committee of Lin-gang Special Area of Shanghai Free Trade Zone issued Implementation Opinions on Supporting Increasing the Floor Area Ratio of the Land Used for Industries and Research and Development in Lin-gang Special Area.
This Implementation Opinions advance high-quality use of Lin-gang Special Area’s land, support improving land use efficiency and intensity, encourage floor area ratio increase and land utilization improvement of the land used for various industries and research and development in Lin-gang Special Area, including the underground development and construction.
The Administrative Committee of Lin-gang Special Area of Shanghai Free Trade Zone issued Implementation Opinions on Supporting the Efforts of Lin-gang Special Area’s Platform to Improve Its Ability of Providing Innovative Services.
These Implementation Opinions support optimizing the structure of Lin-gang Special Area’s space assigned for science and research and innovation, advance high-quality and highly efficient configuration of land resource elements, and support Lin-gang Special Area’s platform in improving its ability of providing innovative services.
6.The Office of Shanghai Municipal Government issued the notice of Implementation Plan for Expanding the Scope of the Pilot Program of Full Coverage of Launching the Reform Separating Permits from the Business License in China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone.
Starting on December 1, 2019, the list administration of all enterprise-related business licensing items shall be implemented in China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (including Lin-gang Special Area). The reform shall be advanced and effective ways to innovate and strengthen interim and ex-post supervision shall be explored according to the below four means: (a) directly cancelling approval; (b) changing approval to recordation; (c) implementing notification commitment; and (d) optimizing approval services. From now on, all applications for the establishment of bonded warehouses shall be submitted via the Customs Singlewindow System.
Link to the Customs Singlewindow System: https://www.singlewindow.cn/
7.Lin-gang Special Area of Shanghai Free Trade Zone issued Several Measures of Lin-gang Special Area of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade to Develop Biomedical Industry Clusters.
Theses Several Measures propose to focus on biomedicines, precision medicine, high-end medical devices among other areas, to build a complete biomedical technology industry chain in Lin-gang Special Area by way of policy guidance, to meet the industrialized needs of high-end biomedical research and development projects and to fill the gap of local industrialized biomedical development projects in China.
8.Nanjing
The Nanjing Municipal Government issued Opinions of the CPC Central Committee of Nanjing and Nanjing Municipal People’s Government on Promoting the High-Quality Development of the Nanjing Area of China (Jiangsu) Pilot Free Trade Zone and Implementation Plans of the Nanjing Area of China (Jiangsu) Pilot Free Trade Zone.
In order to build a new China Pilot Free Trade Zone benchmark which is convenient for investment and trade and has a sound service system, an outstanding innovative financial feature, effective and easy control, an environment under moderate rule of law and an obvious global coupling effect through three to five years’ reform and exploration.
9.SAFE (State Administration of Foreign Exchange) Spokesperson and Chief Economist Wang Chunying answered media questions on Foreign Exchange Receipts and Payments for November, 2019.
Q: What changes occurred in China’s foreign exchange receipts and payments in November, 2019?
A: China’s current economy tends to stay stable on a long-term basis, which is still true at the moment. We will keep adopting new thinking on development in the future, focus on supply-side structural reforms, stay motivated by reform and opening-up, and advance high-quality development. These will help the economic performance remain within a reasonable range, enhance high-level opening up comprehensively and strengthen the solid foundation for the stability of the foreign exchange market. Further, progresses were gained in the first round of China-US economic and trade consultations, which is good for a positive development of the global economy and trade and is also providing a more stable external environment for the operation of China’s foreign exchange market.
10.Notice of the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the General Administration of Customs, the State Taxation Administration, and the National Energy Administration on Adjusting the Relevant Catalogues of the Import Tax Policies for Crucial High-Tech Equipment
With a view to the development of the domestic equipment manufacturing industry and its supporting industries in recent years and on the basis of extensive solicitation of comments from competent industrial departments, industry associations, representatives of enterprises, among others, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the General Administration of Customs, the State Taxation Administration and the National Energy Administration have decided to revise the relevant catalogues of the import tax policies for crucial high-tech equipment.
Please click the below link to read the annexes.
http://www.chinatax.gov.cn/chinatax/n810341/n810755/c5140651/content.html
11.The Zhejiang Provincial Government approved the establishment of six innovation zones to coordinate with Zhejiang Pilot Free Trade Zone!
People’s Government of Zhejiang Province recently approved the establishment of six innovation zones in Hangzhou, Ningbo, Wenzhou, Jiaxing, Jinhua and Taizhou to coordinate with China (Zhejiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone (coordinated innovations zones hereafter), which marks the start of a substantive stage of the construction of Zhejiang Pilot Free Trade Zone’s coordinated innovation zones.
12.Announcement of the General Administration of Customs (No. 213, 2019) (Announcement on Cancelling the Registration Validity Period of Customs Declaration Entities and Branch Offices Thereof)
In order to further advance the reform to delegate power, streamline administration and optimize government services, reduce government-imposed transaction costs and simplify processes, the General Administration of Customs decided on December 24, 2019 to cancel the registration validity period of customs declaration entities and their branch offices nationwide. The registration validity period of customs declaration entities and their branch offices shall be cancelled nationwide as of the day of the announcement. Now all registrations shall remain effective indefinitely. Customs declaration entities and branch offices whose Registration Certificates of the Customs of the People’s Republic of China for Customs Declaration Entities were issued before the announcement and remain valid after December 1, 2019 don’t need to renovate their certificates and they will not be affected when going through relevant Customs procedures. Customs declaration entities and branch offices whose registration certificates expired before November 30, 2019 shall renovate their registrations or go through the archival filing procedure if they want to provide Customs brokerage services again.
13.Order of the Ministry of Commerce [2019] No. 1
Decision of the Ministry of Commerce on Abolishing and Revising Some of the Regulations
Decision of the Ministry of Commerce on Abolishing and Revising Some of the Regulations was approved on the 19th session of this year’s ministry meeting of the Ministry of Commerce on November 1, 2019. The Decision has abolished Measures for the Administration of Operational Qualifications for Labor Service Cooperation with Foreign Parties (Decree of the Ministry of Commerce and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (No. 3 [2004])) and Measures for the Administration of Foreign-Funded International Freight Forwarding Enterprises (Order of the Ministry of Commerce (No. 19 [2005])), and revised Administrative Measures for Auctions, Administrative Measures for the Import of Electromechanical Products, Measures for the Implementation of Automatic License for Import of Electromechanical Products, Measures for the Archival Filing and Registration of Foreign Trade Business Operators, Measures for the Qualifications Accreditation of Foreign Aid Project Implementation Enterprises (for Trial Implementation), Measures for the Administration of Licenses for the Import of Goods, Administrative Measures for the Recovery of Renewable Resources, Measures for the Administration of the Refined Oil Market, Interim Measures for the Administration of Tariff Quota of Import of Agricultural Products and Measures for the Administration of Technologies Prohibited or Restricted from Import.
14.Letter No. 137 [2019] of the State Council
Reply of the State Council on Approving the Establishment of Pilot Cross-Border E-Commerce Zones in Shijiazhuang and other 23 Cities
The Chinese State Council has approved the establishment of pilot cross-border e-commerce zones in 24 cities. These 24 cities are Shijiazhuang, Taiyuan, Chifeng, Fushun, Hunchun, Suifenhe, Xuzhou, Nantong, Wenzhou, Shaoxing, Wuhu, Fuzhou, Quanzhou, Ganzhou, Jinan, Yantai, Luoyang, Huangshi, Yueyang, Shantong, Foshan, Luzhou, Haidong, and Yinchuan. These pilot cross-border e-commerce zones will be named as China (city name) Pilot Cross-Border E-Commerce Zone. The detailed implementation plan will be announced by the provincial governments which these cities belong to.
15.Announcement of the General Administration of Customs (No. 218, 2019) (Announcement on Promoting the Convenience of Processing Trade, Simplifying and Regulating Process of Declaration and Administration)
This Announcement has further simplified the procedures of processing trade. The establishment (or change) of manual will only need a single declaration; archival filling declaration will be cancelled; the establishment (or change) of account book will only need a single declaration; the declaration of the relations of merged goods will be cancelled. Outward processing will only need a single declaration; the receiving and shipping records of outward processing will be cancelled. The transfer of deep-processing products will only need a single declaration; the application beforehand and the receiving and shipping records will be cancelled. The transfer of surplus materials will only need a single declaration; risk deposit will be cancelled. The declaration of the taxation on products for domestic market will only need a single declaration; the deadline of the declaration of the taxation on products for domestic market will be uniform. The control over non-priced equipment will be optimized; the procedure to lift control will be simplified. The control over inexpensive supplementary materials will be innovated; bonded materials will be administrated together. This announcement shall take effect as of January, 1, 2020.
16.The ERP data of enterprises supervised by Hefei Customs online has been integrated into the Customs’ system.
By way of developing the Customs’ ERP online supervision system, the data from enterprises’ ERP systems, the Customs Singlewindow System and other data sources can be automatically extracted and integrated into one platform, so that analysis and verification can be carried out automatically; the verification results can be sent back to enterprises and the Customs and risk warnings can be provided automatically; the establishment of data model can be learnt automatically; precision supervision, full supervision, intelligent supervision, customized services and real-time services can be realized. Based on that, the Customs will make customs clearance more convenient for enterprises and make the process simple and strict at the same time. The Customs’ ERP online supervision is to compare the information of enterprises’ cargo flow, document flow and fund flow with the Customs’ administrative information in a real-time manner, using the big data analysis technique, verify the legitimacy, authenticity and accuracy of enterprises’ import and export, embed the Customs’ supervision into enterprises’ daily management through retrieving enterprises’ customs-related ERP data in real time.
Link to the Customs Singlewindow System: https://www.singlewindow.cn/
17.Announcement of the General Administration of Customs on Issuing Code for Customs Statistical Trade Mode and Other Four Professional Standards of the Customs (No. 201, 2019)
In accordance with Measures for the Administration of the Customs of the People’s Republic of China for the Administration of Customs (for Trial Implementation) (order of the General Administration of Customs No. 140, revised on the basis of order of the General Administration of Customs No. 235), the General Administration of Customs issued Code for Customs Statistical Trade Mode and other four professional standards of the Customs (please refer to the annex for the standard list). These standards shall take effect as of June 1, 2020.
18.The Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the General Administration of Customs, the State Taxation Administration, and the National Energy Administration issued Notice on Adjusting the Relevant Catalogues of the Import Tax Policies for Crucial High-Tech Equipment.
For domestic enterprises who satisfies certain required conditions, some of the imported merchandises which are prerequisite for the manufacture of some certain equipment or products, are exempted from Customs duties and import VAT. These products include equipment used to produce solar cells, equipment used to produce LEDs, key equipment for integrated circuits, equipment used to produce new flat panel display devices, equipment used to produce electronic components, equipment for materials genomes, among others.
19.Implementation Plan of Shanghai Customs for Supporting the Construction of Shanghai Innovation Center in Science and Technology (2020)
Shanghai Customs will actively focus on the construction of China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone and Lin-gang Special Area, Shanghai Zhangjiang National Innovation Demonstration Zone and comprehensive bonded zones, introduce multiple innovative systems, policies and measures and spare no effort to support the construction of Shanghai Innovation Center in Science and Technology.
20.General Administration of Customs
Announcement on Adjusting the Catalogue of Import and Export Commodities that Shall Be Inspected (No. 220, 2019)
In accordance with the relevant regulation of Law of the People’s Republic of China on Import and Export Commodity Inspection and its enforcement regulations, the General Administration of Customs has decided to adjust the catalogue of import and export commodities that shall be inspected. The announcement is as below.
Supervision condition A will be lifted for 199 HS-coded commodities, including fabrics and adult garments, textile machineries, cold-roll steel sheets among others. The Customs will no more implement import inspection to these commodities. This announcement shall take effect on January 1, 2020.
21.General Administration of Customs
Announcement on Revising Matters concerning the Measures for the Supervision of Market Procurement Trade and the Manners of Supervision Thereof (No. 221, 2019)
In order to promote the sound and stable development of market procurement trade and regulate the administration of market procurement trade, in accordance with Customs Law of the People's Republic of China, Law of the People’s Republic of China on Import and Export Commodity Inspection, Law of the People's Republic of China on the Entry and Exit Animal and Plant Quarantine, Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China and other relevant laws and administrative regulations, the matters concerning the commodities exported in the trade mode of market procurement under customs supervision are hereby announced. This announcement shall take effect as of the date of promulgation. The announcement of the General Administration of Customs (No. 54, 2014) and the previous announcement of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (No. 31, 2012) shall be abolished simultaneously.
