党的十八大以来，在以习近平同志为核心的党中央坚强领导下，我国加快建设开放型经济新体制，外贸发展取得了历史性的成就。从海关统计的角度看，突出体现在量质齐升上。
一是货物贸易进出口连创新高。从2012年的24.4万亿元人民币增至2021年的39.1万亿元，增量高达14.7万亿元，2018年突破30万亿元大关，2021年接近40万亿元关口，国际市场份额由2012年的10.4%提升到去年的13.5%，全球货物贸易第一大国地位更加巩固。近十年我国货物贸易规模的不断跃升，充分体现了中国不仅是“世界工厂”，也是“世界市场”，在向全球市场提供物美价廉、琳琅满目商品的同时，也为各国提供了更广阔的中国市场发展机遇。
二是全球货物贸易第一大国地位进一步巩固。2017年以来，我国货物贸易总额连续5年全球第一。根据最新数据测算，2021年我国出口国际市场份额为15.1%，与2012年相比提升了4个百分点，这一增量与2001年“入世”时我国出口国际市场份额基本相当。同时，我国进口国际市场份额自2013年首次突破10%后稳步提升至2021年的11.9%。
三是对外贸易高质量发展持续推进。外贸经营主体活力更足，2021年我国有进出口实绩的企业数量达56.7万家，是
2012年的l.7倍。外贸“朋友圈”不断扩大；2013—2021年我国与“一带一路”沿线国家进出口总值从6.46万亿元增长至11.6万亿元，占同期我国外贸总值的比重从25%提升至29.7%。国内区域布局更加优化，中西部地区进出口占比提升6.6个百分点，由2012年的11.1%升至2021年的17.7%。外贸发展新动能不断激发，2021年综合保税区、自由贸易试验区、海南自由贸易港进出口同比分别增长23.8%、26.4%和57.7%。
值得一提的是，新冠肺炎疫情发生以来，我国积极推动国际抗疫合作，向国际社会提供了数以亿计的口罩、防护服、检测试剂、疫苗等防疫物资。中国正携手贸易伙伴，共同维护全球产业链供应链稳定、共同助力世界经济复苏。
党的十八大以来，全国海关充分发挥职能作用，促进了外贸高质量发展。
——支持共建“一带一路”。扩大“一带一路”国家优质农产品食品进口。2013年至2021年，累计与“一带一路”沿线国家签署海关检验检疫合作文件超过400份，推动100多种优质农产品食品实现对华贸易。深化与“一带一路”国家贸易安全与通关便利化合作。与48个国家（地区）达成“经认证的经营者”（AEO）互认协议，其中32个是共建“一带一路”国家（地区）。推进中国国际贸易“单一窗口”与共建“一带一路”国家的合作交流。据海关统计，2013年至2021年，我国与“一带一路”沿线国家进出口总值从6.46万亿元增长至11.6万亿元，占同期我国外贸总值的比重从25%提升至29.7%。今年前4个月，我国与“一带一路”沿线国家进出口3.97万亿元，增长15.4%，增速高于整体7.5个百分点。
——持续优化口岸营商环境。进出口环节监管证件由86个减少到41个，整体通关时间大幅压缩，2021年12月全国进口、出口整体通关时间分别为32.97小时和1.23小时，分别较2017年缩短了66.14%和89.98%，制度性交易成本大幅下降。通过推进关税保证保险改革试点，截至2021年底，3775家企业累计担保税款5340.2亿元，助力企业降本增效；推进国际贸易“单一窗口”流程优化、业务协同和国际互联互通，为企业提供全程“一站式”通关物流信息服务，优化口岸营商环境持续，进出口企业和人民群众的获得感进一步增强。
——推动区域经济高质量发展。北京、天津、石家庄海关建立协同工作机制，支持雄安新区全面深化改革和扩大开放，推进京津冀自贸试验区协同发展，快速处置异常问题、推进海关全业务领域一体化。围绕《粤港澳大湾区发展规划纲要》，积极推动粤港澳大湾区人员、货物和运输工具跨境便捷流动。粤澳海关“跨境一锁”合作范围扩大至整个大湾区，口岸基础设施建设加快，粤港澳执法合作深化。全面落实《长江三角洲区域一体化发展规划纲要》，牵头出台两轮《海关支持长三角区域一体化发展重点举措》，服务长三角外贸高质量发展。五方面15条措施，在浦东打造社会主义现代化海关的试验田和示范区。此外，海关完善工作机制，细化支持措施，助力长江经济带协调发展、服务黄河流域生态保护和高质量发展、支持成渝双城经济圈建设和西部陆海新通道建设取得成效。
——支持外贸新业态发展。“网购保税进口”“跨境电商B2B直接出口”“跨境电商出口海外仓”等监管模式，满足了跨境电商企业的通关需求，助力国货“直通全球”。跨境电商零售进口退货中心仓模式，使跨境电商零售进口商品退货更加便捷。海关推动跨境电商零售进口试点城市（及区域）扩容，并设计开发统一的跨境电子商务通关管理系统，有效保障跨境电商商品顺利通关。同时，配合地方政府搭建电子商务监管服务平台，实现与跨境电商企业的数据交换。交易、支付、物流“三单信息”与申报信息实现自动比对，在“管得住”的前提下实现“通得快”。
——推动对外开放平台建设。推动综合保税区创新发展，目前，全国共有综合保税区156个；积极开展自贸试验区海关监管制度创新；坚持“管得住、放得开”原则，研究制定海南自由贸易港海关监管框架方案。综合保税区、自由贸易试验区、海南自由贸易港进出口大幅提升。
——保障和促进优质农食产品进口。在确保生物安全的前提下，扩大进口优质农食产品来源。目前，已实现119个国家（地区）1107种农产品检疫准入。依据双边检疫协议，对境外种植、养殖、加工、储存企业进行严格审核，敦促国外官方加强出口检验检疫。实施进境动植物预检模式改革。全球新冠肺炎疫情暴发以后，创造性地推出针对国（境）外主管部门和
企业的远程视频检查。2012年以来，累计有7.1万余家输华食品企业在华注册。建立境外、口岸、境内三道防线，对农食产品进行检疫和实验室检测，既保障了优质农食产品进口，又有力防范了重大动植物疫情疫病传入。加强与市场监督管理部门的协作，积极开展食品安全风险信息的交流、研判、通报，加大对问题产品和企业的处置力度，2012年至2022年2月共退运或销毁来自138个国家（地区）的进口食品28090批，来自41个国家（地区）的进口化妆品1801批。推进单证证书信息电子化，与国外官方机构开展电子证书联网核查，提高企业通关效率，降低口岸环节成本。
今年我国外贸总体开局平稳，但受内外部多重因素影响，当前稳外贸压力显著增加。海关总署党委将坚决落实党中央、国务院决策部署，不断创新海关监管制度，服务对外贸易大局，以优异的成绩迎接党的二十大胜利召开。
Customs Promoting High-Quality Development of Foreign Trade
（May 20, 2022）
General Administration of Customs
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, China has accelerated the building of a new system of open economy and made historic achievements in the development of foreign trade. According to Customs statistics, China’s foreign trade has increased both in volume and quality.
First, foreign trade in goods hit new record highs. China’s foreign trade in goods increased from RMB24.4 trillion in 2012 to RMB39.1 trillion in 2021, up by RMB14.7 trillion. China’s foreign trade in goods exceeded RMB30 trillion in 2018 and reached nearly RMB40 trillion in 2021. China’s global market share increased from 10.4% in 2012 to 13.5% last year, further consolidating China’s role as the world’s largest trader in goods. The rapid growth of China’s foreign trade in goods in the past decade fully reflects that China is not only the “world factory”, but also the “world market”, providing the global market with a great
variety of high-quality and inexpensive goods and offering tremendous opportunities for other countries through the vast Chinese market.
Second, China’s role as the world's largest trader in goods has been consolidated. Since 2017, China has been the world's largest trader in goods for five consecutive years. According to the latest data, China's share of global exports in 2021 was 15.1%, a 4percentage points increase compared to that of 2012. The growth volume basically equals China’s share of global exports in 2001 when China joined the WTO. At the same time, China's share of global imports exceeded 10% for the first time in 2013 and had enjoyed a steady increase ever since to 11.9% in 2021.
Third, progress has been made in ensuring high-quality development of foreign trade. Foreign trade entities have been further invigorated. In 2021, China had 567,000 enterprises with exports’ and imports’ records, 1.7 times higher than that of 2012. China’s “circle of friends” in foreign trade has been broadened. From 2013 to 2021, China's trade with countries along the Belt and Road increased from RMB6.46 trillion to RMB11.6 trillion, the share of which in China’s total foreign trade increased from 25% to 29.7%. Development priorities of regions are better aligned. Foreign trade of the central and western regions accounted for 17.7% of China’s total in 2021, a 6.6 percentage points increase compared to 11.1% in 2012. New drivers of foreign trade have been fostered. In 2021, the imports and exports of integrated bonded areas, pilot free trade zones and the Hainan Free Trade Port grew by 23.8%, 26.4% and 57.7% year-on-year, respectively.
In particular, since the outbreak of COVID-19, China has taken active steps to advance international cooperation on COVID-19 response and provided hundreds of millions of masks, protective suits, testing kits and vaccines to the international community. China is working together with trade partners to contribute to the stability of global industrial chain and supply chain and the recovery of world economy.
Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, China Customs has played its due role in promoting high-quality development of foreign trade.
——We have fostered cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative. We have expanded the imports of quality agri-food products to China. From 2013 to 2021, over 400 Customs, Inspection and Quarantine cooperation documents with Belt and Road countries have been signed and more than 100 kinds of quality agri-food products have gained market access to China. We have deepened cooperation with Belt and Road countries to ensure trade security and faster clearance. We have concluded Mutual Recognition Agreements of Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) with 48 countries (regions), 32 of which are Belt and Road countries (regions). We have promoted cooperation and exchange with Belt and Road countries in the area of “Single Window”. According to Customs statistics, from 2013 to 2021, China's imports and exports with countries along the Belt and Road grew from RMB6.46 trillion to RMB11.6 trillion, the share of which in China’s total foreign trade increased from 25% to 29.7%. In the first four months of 2022, China's imports and exports with countries along the Belt and Road reached RMB3.97 trillion, an increase of 15.4%, 7.5 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate of China’s foreign trade.
——We have continuously optimized the business environment at ports. The number of documents required for imports and exports was reduced from 86 to 41, significantly cutting down the overall customs clearance time. In December 2021, the overall Customs clearance time for imports and exports was 32.97 hours and 1.23 hours respectively, which was 66.14% and 89.98% shorter than in 2017, greatly lowering the institutional transaction costs. Through reforming the surety insurance mechanism on tariff, by the end of 2021, we had provided 3,775 enterprises with surety insurance service covering a total of RMB534.02 billion of taxes, thus helping enterprises reduce costs and increase efficiency. We have pressed ahead with procedural optimization, operation coordination and international connectivity of “Single Window”, providing “one-stop” Customs clearance and logistics information services for enterprises and fostering a more enabling business environment at ports, with the sense of fulfillment of foreign trade enterprises and that of people being enhanced.
——We have promoted high-quality development of regional economy. Customs districts of Beijing, Tianjin and Shijiazhuang have established a collaborative working mechanism to support Xiong’an New Area in comprehensively deepening reform and opening-up, promote the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region Pilot Free Trade Zones, ensure rapid response to unusual cases and enhance the integration of Customs operations. Following the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, we have taken active steps to ensure the smooth cross-border movement of people, goods and means of transport in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. We have extended the practice of “Using the same Customs Seal” from between Guangdong and Macao Customs to the entire Greater Bay Area, accelerated the construction of port infrastructure and deepened law enforcement cooperation among Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Customs. We have fully implemented the Outline Development Plan for the Integrated Development of the Yangtze River Delta and taken a lead in issuing two rounds of Customs Key Measures in Supporting the Integrated Development of the Yangtze River Delta, with a view to supporting high-quality development of foreign trade in the Yangtze River Delta. 15 measures from five aspects were released to establish pilot ground and demonstration zones in Pudong, Shanghai for creating a modern socialist Customs. In addition, China Customs has improved the working mechanism and refined supporting measures for the coordinated development of the Yangtze Economic Belt, ecological conservation and high-quality development in the Yellow River basin, the construction of the Chengdu-Chongqing economic zone and the development of the New Land-Sea Transit Routes for the western region, achieving good outcomes.
——We have supported the development of new forms of foreign trade. Customs supervision modes such as “Bonded Import”, “B2B Direct Export” and “Overseas Warehouse” have met the needs of cross-border e-commerce enterprises for faster clearance and helped domestic products “go global”. The model of central warehouse for returned cross-border e-commerce retail import enables the more convenient and faster return of cross-border e-commerce goods. China Customs has expanded the scope of pilot cities (regions) of cross-border e-commerce retail import and developed a unified cross-border e-commerce Customs clearance management system to effectively ensure smooth Customs clearance of cross-border e-commerce goods. At the same time, we have made data exchange possible with cross-border e-commerce enterprises with the support of e-commerce supervision service platforms built by the local governments. Three individual documents concerning transactions, payments and logistics can be automatically checked against declaration information. Under effective supervision, fast Customs clearance has been ensured.
——We have advanced the establishment of a platform for opening up. We have promoted the innovative development of integrated bonded areas. At present, there are 156 integrated bonded areas nationwide. We have innovated the Customs supervision system of pilot free trade zones. Under the principle of opening up wider while ensuring effective supervision, we have developed the Customs control framework for the Hainan Free Trade Port. The imports and exports of integrated bonded areas, pilot free trade zones and the Hainan Free Trade Port have increased significantly.
——We have ensured and promoted the imports of quality agri-food products. Under the precondition of biosecurity, we have expanded the sources of imported quality agri-food products. Currently, 1,107 kinds of agricultural products from 119 countries (regions) have gained market access to China. According to the bilateral SPS-related agreements, we have conducted strict examinations on overseas planting, farming, processing and storage enterprises and urged foreign authorities to strengthen inspection and quarantine of exports. We have implemented the reform of pre-inspection for inbound animals and plants. Since the global outbreak of COVID-19, we have introduced the innovative measure of video inspection for overseas competent authorities and enterprises. Since 2012, a total of more than 71,000 food enterprises exporting to China have been registered in China. We have established three lines of defense, i.e. outside the border, at the border and inside the border, and conducted quarantine and laboratory testing of agri-food products, which not only ensures the import of high-quality agri-food products but also effectively prevents the introduction of major animal and plant epidemics and diseases. We have strengthened collaboration with market regulation authorities and actively carried out exchange, analysis and notification of food safety risks and intensified efforts to the disposal of non-compliant products and enterprises. From 2012 to February 2022, a total of 28,090 batches of imported food from 138 countries (regions) and 1,801 batches of imported cosmetics from 41 countries (regions) were returned or destroyed. We have promoted digital documents and certificates and worked with foreign authorities in networked verification of e-certificates, with the goal of improving the efficiency of Customs clearance and reducing costs at ports.
China’s foreign trade has achieved a stable start this year. However, China is under growing pressure in ensuring stable performance in foreign trade due to various impacts from home and abroad. The CPC Committee of the General Administration of Customs of China will resolutely follow the decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council and keep innovating Customs control system, thus contributing to the overall development of foreign trade and setting the stage for the 20th National Congress of the CPC with outstanding achievements.
