China Focus: China makes headway in trade facilitation, customs cooperation in 14th Five-Year Plan period

BEIJING, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) — China has made steady progress in trade facilitation and international customs cooperation during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), a customs official said on Monday.

Trade facilitation is crucial in advancing high-standard opening-up, improving the business environment, and safeguarding the multilateral trading system, Sun Meijun, head of the General Administration of Customs (GAC), told a press conference.

During the past years, the GAC has led annual initiatives to improve cross-border trade efficiency, introducing 108 reform measures aimed at creating a more convenient, secure and predictable business environment, which has been widely welcomed by enterprises.

Simplified clearance procedures and optimized supervision models have ensured faster cross-border logistics and smoother economic and trade exchanges, while institutional innovations have supported the growth of new forms of foreign trade, Sun said.

Data showed that China has added or expanded 40 ports of entry since the beginning of the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), bringing the total to 311 nationwide, and 271 types of agricultural and food products from 81 countries and regions have been newly approved for import.

These efforts have underpinned steady growth in foreign trade. In 2024, China’s total goods trade reached 43.8 trillion yuan (6.16 trillion U.S. dollars), maintaining its position as the world’s largest trading nation for the eighth consecutive year.

China has ranked among the top three trading partners for 157 countries and regions worldwide, Sun said.

In 2024, China’s trade with Belt and Road Initiative participating countries reached 22 trillion yuan, comprising over 50 percent of its total imports and exports. The nation’s trade with emerging markets, including ASEAN, Latin America, Africa and Central Asia, has expanded at an annual pace of more than 10 percent since the beginning of the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), according to Sun.

EXPANDING COOPERATION

Facing a complicated international economic and trade situation, China has opened its door wider to the rest of the world, and has taken multiple measures to enhance international customs cooperation, said Zhang Baofeng, an official with GAC, at the press conference.

China has newly built 85 customs cooperation mechanisms with Belt and Road Initiative participating countries since the beginning of the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), bringing the total number to 138, Zhang said.

Customs inspection and quarantine platforms with African nations and Central and Eastern European countries have been established, which helped facilitate the entry of quality products such as African citrus fruits, coffee beans and wild aquatic products, as well as honey, wine and cosmetics goods from Central and Eastern European countries into the Chinese market, according to Zhang.

In addition, China has organized 204 sessions of foreign aid training, benefiting nearly 7,000 participants from 120 countries and regions, and promoting exchanges in customs regulations, technology and standards.

Looking forward, China will continue to deeply engage in the reform of global customs governance, Zhang said.

STRENGTHENING IPR PROTECTION

China’s customs authorities have scaled up efforts to protect intellectual property rights (IPRs) and have maintained a high-pressure stance against IPR infringement during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), said Wang Jun, deputy head of the GAC, at the press conference.

Customs authorities have adopted a series of targeted operations to crack down on IPR infringement, resulting in the seizure of nearly 400 million pieces of suspected infringing goods during the period, according to Wang.

Wang noted that a total of 1.83 million pieces of suspected infringing Labubu products have been intercepted since the beginning of this year, safeguarding a fair and healthy international trade market environment.

China has also deepened collaboration with customs authorities from a number of other countries in a concerted effort to bolster the global crackdown on IPR infringement, he added.