On the one-year anniversary of RCEP's full implementation, the level of benefits enjoyed by foreign trade enterprises continues to improve

On June 2nd this year, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) came into full force for 15 signatory countries for one year. With the continuous release of RCEP policy dividends, more and more foreign trade enterprises are enjoying practical measures such as tariff reduction, customs clearance simplification, and trade and investment facilitation. Especially, the economic and trade exchanges between member countries are becoming more active, injecting new momentum into high-level regional economic cooperation and development.

The "circle of friends" in foreign trade is getting bigger and bigger

According to customs statistics, in the first quarter of this year, China's total imports and exports to the other 14 RCEP member countries amounted to 3.08 trillion yuan, an increase of 2.7%, accounting for 30.3% of China's total import and export value of goods trade.

Such a transcript meets the expectations of all parties in the market——

On November 15, 2020, the 10 ASEAN countries, along with Australia, China, Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand, jointly signed the RCEP and pushed for its official entry into force on January 1, 2022. On June 2, 2023, RCEP officially entered into force for the Philippines, marking the full entry into force of the agreement for 15 signatory countries.

From the main indicators such as the total population, GDP, and trade volume of goods in the RCEP region, the full implementation of the RCEP agreement for the 15 signatory countries marks a new stage of comprehensive implementation for this free trade area, which has the world's largest population, largest economic and trade scale, and most development potential.

In the foreign trade hub of Guangdong, as of June 2, 2024, enterprises under the jurisdiction of Guangzhou Customs have declared a total of 6.17 billion yuan for imported goods such as hot-rolled steel plates and engine parts under RCEP, enjoying tariff preferential treatment of over 100 million yuan; The enterprise has applied to Guangzhou Customs for over 20000 RCEP certificates of origin, and after approval, the exporter has independently issued more than 1000 declaration of origin. The cumulative value of export benefits has reached 5.7 billion yuan, covering ceramic products, plastic products, shoes, etc.

It is reported that since the full implementation of RCEP one year ago, all member countries have implemented tax reductions on their imported goods under RCEP as planned. As of the end of May this year, Japan has implemented the fourth round of tax reduction, the Philippines has implemented the second round of tax reduction, and the remaining 13 countries have all implemented the third round of tax reduction. With the continuous release of RCEP policy dividends, foreign trade enterprises continue to enjoy more benefits.

Guangzhou Baobai Building Materials Co., Ltd. is a foreign trade enterprise specializing in the production of glazed tiles, and its products are mainly exported to Japan. "After RCEP came into effect in Japan, with the implementation of four rounds of tax reduction policies, the export tax rate of ceramic products has decreased from the initial 1.7% to 1.5%, 1.4%, 1.2%, and now 1.1%, respectively." Huang Shaojun, the company's customs officer, said that the number of orders received this year has doubled, and it is expected that the required number of certificates of origin will increase nearly four times compared to last year. In the first five months of this year, the company has applied for 84 RCEP certificates of origin with a value exceeding 18 million yuan.

Make Good Use of International Trade "Paper Gold"

The certificate of origin is an essential document for goods to enjoy tariff reduction and exemption in the importing country, and is known as the "paper gold" of international trade. According to data from the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, in the first four months of this year, the total amount of RCEP origin certificate visas in the national trade promotion system was 2.345 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 2.44%; The total number of visas was 78000, a year-on-year increase of 19.57%.

In Jiangsu, a major manufacturing province, Nanjing Customs has issued a total of 113600 RCEP certificates of origin, with a visa export value of 33.565 billion yuan, ranking first in the country's customs. It is expected that related enterprises can enjoy tariff preferential treatment of 503 million yuan from other RCEP member countries. Jiangsu Province's enterprises enjoy preferential import of RCEP goods worth 20.494 billion yuan and enjoy tariff preferential treatment of 455 million yuan.

"Next, we will continue to promote reform measures such as intelligent verification of certificates of origin and paperless declaration, to help enterprises actively integrate into the RCEP market and effectively enhance international competitiveness," said Hu Wenjie, Director of the Tariff Department of Nanjing Customs.

Guangzhou is the largest cosmetics production contract manufacturing base in China, with over one-third of the cosmetics production enterprises in the country. Guangzhou has a strong foundation in the cosmetics industry, with approximately 1400 cosmetics production enterprises and more than 6000 cosmetics trading enterprises gathering in Baiyun District alone. Every year, over 10 billion beauty and personal care products are produced, packaged, and exported from Baiyun District to both domestic and international markets.

Guangzhou Oukatu International Trade Co., Ltd., located in Baiyun District, Guangzhou, is a beauty product research and production enterprise, with Indonesia being one of its important export markets. "Previously, our eye cosmetics were exported to Indonesia by applying for a certificate of origin under the China ASEAN Free Trade Agreement, with a preferential tax rate of 5%. After the RCEP came into effect, customs actively strengthened policy promotion and guided us to use the RCEP certificate of origin. Exports can enjoy zero tariffs, further enhancing our product competitiveness." The person in charge of the company, Ma Zefeng, said that the processing of RCEP certificate of origin is very convenient. After submitting the application online, the customs can complete the review within a few minutes, and with the addition of convenience measures such as self-service printing, the entire process of enterprise certificate application has achieved "zero running errands".

As of the end of April this year, a total of 2780 enterprises in Shanghai have utilized RCEP preferential policies to import a total of 71.22 billion yuan, with a total tax reduction of 1.7 billion yuan. The number of enterprises enjoying benefits, the value of goods enjoying benefits, and the amount of tax reduction have all remained the top in the country. In terms of exports, in the first four months of this year, Shanghai Customs issued a total of 32000 certificates of origin for exports, with a value of 9.98 billion yuan, an increase of 17.1% and 2.3% year-on-year, respectively. At present, Shanghai Customs has guided enterprises to apply for a total of 190000 RCEP certificates of origin, involving a total value of 67.57 billion yuan.

Xu Deshun, a researcher at the International Trade and Economic Cooperation Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce, stated that under the RCEP agreement, enterprises can enjoy tariff reductions among member countries through measures such as certificates of origin, effectively reducing export costs and enhancing product market competitiveness. At the same time, the cost reduction of imported raw materials and components helps enterprises optimize their production cost structure and improve profitability.

Further unleashing policy dividends

The approved exporter system is one of the highlights of RCEP. Enterprises that apply for and obtain qualification recognition can independently issue a declaration of origin for their goods, which has the same legal effect as traditional certificates of origin and does not require a visa. Customs will implement management of approved exporters in accordance with the principles of good faith, law-abiding, and convenience.

SMC (China) Co., Ltd., located in Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone, is the first approved exporter under RCEP in China. As the world's largest multinational enterprise in the manufacturing and sales of pneumatic components, the company relies on advanced pneumatic technology and excellent product quality to directly export its products to more than 70 countries and regions. It is reported that many of the company's import and export goods are from RCEP countries, and they have been the first to enjoy the policy dividends brought by RCEP.

"As an important facilitation measure for origin certification, the approved exporter system can enable more honest and law-abiding export enterprises with the ability to manage the origin qualification of goods to arrange production and logistics of goods more flexibly, and more conveniently enjoy preferential customs duties under the agreement, thereby further reducing enterprise customs costs and improving customs clearance convenience." The relevant person in charge of the Beijing Customs Tariff Office said.

It is reported that to be approved as an approved exporter, three conditions need to be met: firstly, it belongs to a customs senior certification enterprise; Secondly, it is necessary to master the rules of origin under relevant preferential trade agreements; The third is to establish a complete system for managing origin qualification documents. In response to the needs of enterprises, Beijing Customs has proactively connected with customs AEO advanced certification enterprises, opened up a dedicated RCEP enterprise benefit service channel, and quickly processed the approved exporter registration procedures for qualified enterprises. Nanjing Customs is implementing classified policies to accelerate the implementation of the approved exporter system. In the first five months of this year, it has guided 48 enterprises to successfully obtain approved exporters, and the number of enterprises independently issuing certificates of origin has increased by nearly three times.

To help enterprises improve their RCEP benefits and integrate into the RCEP market, local customs also rely on the construction of smart customs, fully apply big data analysis as a precise portrait of target enterprises, customize the "one enterprise, one policy" optimal benefits plan, focus on the bottlenecks and difficulties of enterprises in RCEP benefits, classify and guide enterprises to make full use of policy dividends, and continuously enhance the stability and market competitiveness of the industrial chain and supply chain. (Economic Daily reporter Gu Yang)