Press conference site (photo by Huang Yuting)
On January 17th, Jiangxi Provincial Government Information Office and Nanchang Customs jointly held a press conference on Jiangxi’s foreign trade import and export in 2019. Zhou Weiying, deputy director of Nanchang Customs and member of the Party Committee, introduced the import and export of Jiangxi’s foreign trade in 2019. Bu Yangang, director of commodity inspection department of Nanchang Customs, Huang Qifeng, director of statistical analysis department of Nanchang Customs, and Tang Fujiang, deputy director of enterprise management and inspection department of Nanchang Customs, attended the press conference and answered questions from reporters. Li Feng, deputy director of the Foreign Information Office of the Provincial Government Information Office, presided over the press conference.
Li Feng, Deputy Director of the Foreign Information Office of the Provincial Government Information Office (Huang yuting Photo)
Li Feng:
Dear journalists and friends,
Good morning everyone! Welcome to the press conference on the theme of "studying and implementing the spirit of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee and promoting high-quality leap-forward development in Jiangxi" held by the Information Office of the Provincial Government. Today, we are very pleased to invite Mr. Zhou Weiying, deputy director of Nanchang Customs and member of the Party Committee, Mr. Bu Yangang, director of commodity inspection department of Nanchang Customs, Mr. Huang Qifeng, director of statistical analysis department of Nanchang Customs, and Mr. Tang Fujiang, deputy director of enterprise management and inspection department of Nanchang Customs, to introduce Jiangxi’s foreign trade import and export in 2019 and answer your questions.
Let’s ask Deputy Commissioner Zhou Weiying to introduce the relevant situation.
Zhou Weiying, Deputy Commissioner of Nanchang Customs and Member of the Party Committee (photo by Huang Yuting)
Zhou Weiying:
Dear journalists and friends,
Good morning everyone! Nice to meet you. Today is the first press conference of Nanchang Customs in the new year. I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt thanks to the media friends who have long cared for, supported and helped the customs work. Below, I will first report the import and export situation of Jiangxi’s foreign trade in 2019, and then answer your questions.
In 2019, the total import and export value of Jiangxi’s foreign trade was 351.19 billion yuan, an increase of 11.1% over 2018. Among them, exports reached 249.64 billion yuan, up by 12.3%; Imports reached 101.55 billion yuan, an increase of 8.2%. The growth rate of Jiangxi’s import and export, export and import was 7.7, 7.3 and 6.6 percentage points higher than the national average in the same period respectively.
In dollar terms, the total import and export value of Jiangxi’s foreign trade was US$ 50.92 billion, an increase of 5.7% over 2018. Among them, exports reached 36.2 billion US dollars, up by 6.6%; Imports reached US$ 14.72 billion, up by 3.3%.
In the past year, Jiangxi’s foreign trade showed the following six characteristics:
First, the scale of import and export climbed quarter by quarter, reaching a record high. In the first quarter of 2019, the import and export value was 74.47 billion yuan, 83.44 billion yuan in the second quarter, 93.36 billion yuan in the third quarter and 99.93 billion yuan in the fourth quarter, all of which increased by more than 7% from the previous quarter.
Second, the trading partners are more diversified, and the import and export of major markets except the United States have maintained growth. In 2019, Jiangxi had trade with 233 countries and regions, and ASEAN remained the largest trading partner. Jiangxi imported and exported 58.9 billion yuan to ASEAN, an increase of 19.4%; The European Union surpassed the United States to become Jiangxi’s second largest trading partner, and Jiangxi imported and exported 46.65 billion yuan to the European Union, an increase of 26.7%. Imports and exports to the United States reached 37.29 billion yuan, down 3.6%. Imports and exports to Japan and South Korea were 24.84 billion yuan and 24.63 billion yuan respectively, up by 10.1% and 28.9% respectively. In addition, Jiangxi’s import and export to countries along the "Belt and Road" reached 102.81 billion yuan, up 14.2%, 3.1 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate.
Third, the pulling effect of private enterprises is more obvious. Private enterprises account for nearly 70% of imports and exports, and the exports of production enterprises maintain double-digit growth. In 2019, the import and export of private enterprises was 244.79 billion yuan, up 18.4%, accounting for 69.7% of Jiangxi’s total foreign trade, up 4.3 percentage points from 2018. Among them, the export was 187.12 billion yuan, up by 13.7%; Imports reached 57.67 billion yuan, an increase of 36.4%. The import and export of foreign-invested enterprises was 92.61 billion yuan, accounting for 26.4%. The import and export of state-owned enterprises was 13.19 billion yuan, accounting for 3.8%. In the same period, the export of production enterprises was 130.3 billion yuan, an increase of 18.5%, and the growth rate continued to be ahead of the overall export, accounting for 52.2% of the province’s exports from 49.5% in 2018.
Fourth, the mode of trade is more optimized, with the proportion of general trade exceeding 70%, and the growth rate of processing trade ranks second in the country. In 2019, the import and export of general trade in Jiangxi was 258.5 billion yuan, an increase of 2.1%, accounting for 73.6% of the province’s total foreign trade. In the same period, the import and export of processing trade was 89.01 billion yuan, an increase of 50.4%, ranking second in the country, accounting for 25.3% of the province’s total foreign trade, an increase of 6.6 percentage points over 2018.
Fifth, the commodity structure is more reasonable, and the import and export of mechanical and electrical products are growing rapidly, and the proportion is more than half for the first time. In 2019, Jiangxi exported 126.44 billion yuan of mechanical and electrical products, an increase of 36.4%, accounting for 50.6% of the province’s total export value in the same period, an increase of 8.9 percentage points over 2018, of which 14.9 billion yuan of mobile phones were exported, an increase of 1.5 times; Solar cells reached 11.32 billion yuan, an increase of 38.7%. In the same period, the export of new energy products was 14.02 billion yuan, an increase of 45.1%. The export of labor-intensive products was 58.29 billion yuan, down by 1.1%, accounting for 23.4%, down by 3.2 percentage points compared with 2018, of which furniture was 8.59 billion yuan, up by 12.2%; Toys totaled 7.49 billion yuan, up 46.9%.
On the import side, the import of integrated circuits has increased substantially, and the import of resource products is diversified. In 2019, Jiangxi imported 54.04 billion yuan of mechanical and electrical products, up 34.3%, accounting for 53.2% of the province’s total import value in the same period, up 10.4 percentage points from 2018. Among them, the integrated circuit was 31.77 billion yuan, an increase of 76.4%. In the same period, the import of resource products showed a diversified trend. The import of raw materials such as iron ore and copper ore for industries with high pollution and high energy consumption decreased by 49% and 16% respectively, while the import of raw materials for new energy industries increased, such as the import of cobalt products increased by 84.6% and the import of petroleum coke for lithium battery electrodes increased by 2.8 times.
Sixth, regional development is more coordinated, and the leading effect of Nanchang’s foreign trade is obvious. In 2019, Nanchang’s import and export reached 106.18 billion yuan, an increase of 34.8%, ranking first in all provinces and cities in terms of scale and growth rate, accounting for 30.2% of the province. Ji ‘an imported and exported 49.08 billion yuan, and Ganzhou imported and exported 39.94 billion yuan, ranking second and third respectively in the province, with year-on-year growth of 27.8% and 14% respectively. In addition, the import and export of Yichun, Fuzhou and Pingxiang increased by 7.6%, 7.9% and 4.4% respectively.
In recent years, Nanchang Customs has conscientiously implemented the decision-making arrangements made by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, carried out the special action of "customs clearance is as efficient as coastal areas" in accordance with the deployment requirements of the General Administration of Customs and the provincial party committee and government, greatly reduced the overall customs clearance time, solidly promoted tax reduction and fee reduction, continuously deepened the "streamline administration, delegate power, strengthen regulation and improve services" reform, and continuously optimized the port business environment. In 2019, the overall customs clearance time for imports in Jiangxi was 14.84 hours, and the overall customs clearance time for exports was 0.05 hours, which was 70% and 99% lower than that in 2018 respectively.
总的来看，在国内外风险挑战明显上升的情况下，2019年江西外贸进出口实现了量的稳定增长和质的稳步提升。当前，世界经济增长持续放缓，不稳定不确定因素增多。国内经济下行的压力依然较大，但稳中向好、长期向好的基本趋势没有变，江西外贸将继续保持总体平稳增长态势。下一步，南昌海关将深入贯彻习近平总书记对江西提出的“作示范、勇争先”的目标定位和“五个推进”的更高要求，坚决落实中央“六稳”要求，按照海关总署和江西省委省政府工作部署，忠诚履职，担当作为，不断加强海关制度创新和治理能力建设，全力支持江西打造“四最”营商环境，促进江西高水平开放高质量发展，为加快建设富裕美丽幸福现代化江西、描绘好新时代江西改革发展新画卷贡献海关力量。谢谢大家。
Li Feng:谢谢周维颖副关长的介绍！下面进入提问环节。提问请举手示意，并通报所在新闻机构。谢谢！
江西日报记者（黄玉婷 摄）
江西日报记者：我们注意到，2019年我省民营企业进出口增长，占比提升，请介绍一下我省民营企业进出口具体有哪些亮点？
Zhou Weiying:Thank you for your question. In 2019, the import and export of private enterprises in Jiangxi Province achieved rapid growth, which injected strong impetus into the development of foreign trade. The import and export of private enterprises in the province was 244.79 billion yuan, an increase of 18.4%, accounting for 69.7% of the total import and export value of the province in the same period, and the proportion increased by 4.3 percentage points compared with 2018. Among them, exports were 187.12 billion yuan, an increase of 13.7%; Imports reached 57.67 billion yuan, an increase of 36.4%.
The main highlights are:
First, the import and export vitality of private enterprises has improved. In 2019, the number of private enterprises with import and export performance reached 4,334, an increase of 11% over the previous year, which is an important manifestation of the endogenous motivation and development vitality of foreign trade in the province. In 2019, private enterprises boosted Jiangxi’s foreign trade by 12 percentage points.
Second, the production-oriented private enterprises have obvious pulling effect. In 2019, the import and export of production-oriented private enterprises in Jiangxi Province increased by 30.3%, which was 19.2 percentage points higher than the growth rate of foreign trade in the whole province, which was the main factor driving the growth of private enterprises.
Third, the efforts of private enterprises to explore emerging markets have been continuously enhanced. In 2019, the export of private enterprises to all major markets showed a growth trend. While maintaining the export growth of traditional markets such as Europe and the United States, the export to emerging markets such as ASEAN, Middle East countries and Oceania increased by 23.4%, 32% and 26.3% respectively, which were also significantly higher than the export growth rate of the province to these three markets.
Nanchang Customs has implemented the requirements of "six stabilities" such as stabilizing foreign trade and foreign investment, continuously deepened the "streamline administration, delegate power, strengthen regulation and improve services" reform, and carried out the special action of "customs clearance is as efficient as coastal areas" to fully support the improvement of foreign trade facilitation and strive to create a better development environment for private enterprises.
First, simplify the customs clearance business and vigorously promote the continuous optimization of the port business environment. Simplify the supervision documents of import and export links, realize one-line operation, implement business reforms such as two-step declaration and self-service printing of certificates of origin, streamline the supervision documents of import and export links from 86 to 46, and realize online verification and automatic comparison of 42; Customs certification items were streamlined from 116 to 24; Deepen the application of "single window", the main business application rate is 100%, and take many measures to improve customs clearance efficiency.
The second is to implement the central government’s decision-making and deployment of tax reduction and fee reduction, and solve the bottleneck problem that affects the customs clearance cost of enterprises. We will completely abolish administrative fees, carry out the reform of tariff guarantee insurance, publicly publicize port fees, and effectively reduce the tax burden of private enterprises. From April 1 ST to December 31 ST, the value-added tax was reduced for 9 months, reducing the value-added tax by 1.32 billion yuan for thousands of small and medium-sized imported enterprises in the province, with a tax reduction rate of 18.8%; Handling tariff guarantee insurance for 20 private enterprises such as Nanchang Oufei Biometric Technology Co., Ltd. and Nanchang Qianhai Guoxin Electronic Technology Co., Ltd. involved an amount of 510 million yuan.
The third is to strengthen the cultivation of high credit of enterprises and support the transformation and optimization of foreign trade private enterprises. Actively implement enterprise credit management to help high-credit enterprises enjoy more convenient customs clearance services in countries with mutual recognition of AEO. By the end of 2019, 85 private enterprises in Jiangxi Province had been approved as advanced or general certification enterprises, including 3 new advanced certification enterprises.
Phoenix Net reporter (photo by Huang Yuting)
Phoenix Network reporter:Please tell us about the trade situation between our province and countries along the Belt and Road in 2019 and what the customs has done in this regard.
Huang Qifeng, Director of Statistics and Analysis Division of Nanchang Customs (photo by Huang Yuting)
Huang Qifeng:Thank you for your question. Under the background of "One Belt, One Road" initiative, foreign trade enterprises in Jiangxi Province seized the opportunity, actively integrated and made positive progress. The potential of trade cooperation between Jiangxi Province and countries along the Belt and Road is being continuously released, which has become a new driving force for foreign trade development. According to statistics, in 2019, Jiangxi Province imported and exported 102.81 billion yuan to the "Belt and Road" countries, an increase of 14.2% over 2018. Among them, exports were 90.35 billion yuan, up by 15.1%; Imports reached 12.46 billion yuan, an increase of 8.4%. Nanchang Customs fully supports Jiangxi’s docking of the "Belt and Road" to expand opening up and accelerate development.
First, support the strong cooperation of docking the "Belt and Road". In 2019, China’s customs signed 198 cooperation documents on customs inspection and quarantine, involving 89 countries and regions along the Belt and Road, covering customs administrative mutual assistance, food and agricultural products quarantine access, intellectual property protection, and mutual recognition of "certified operators" (AEO). Nanchang Customs gives full play to the function of the new customs, vigorously strives for the support of the General Administration of Customs, grasps the rules and standards of customs in countries along the route, strengthens policy propaganda, statistical analysis and supervision services, and helps enterprises in Jiangxi Province to enjoy various cross-border trade facilitation measures and better connect with the "Belt and Road" and "going out".
The second is to support the docking of the "Belt and Road" channel. Strengthen customs clearance cooperation with the customs at the coastal ports along the border, and fully support the two-way opening and normal operation of the trains in Jiangxi and Europe. At present, Jiangxi Province has opened five land entry and exit passages, including Manzhouli, Alashankou, Horgos, Erenhot and Pingxiang, Guangxi, and Jiangxi trains are running on the important Central European (Asian) train passages. In 2019, there were 553 trains in Jiangxi Province, 2.7 times that of the whole year of 2018, including 440 trains exported and 113 trains imported.
The third is to support the docking of the "Belt and Road" to expand the market. In 2019, Jiangxi’s trade radiation capacity was further enhanced, and it traded with 233 countries and regions. Among them, the import and export of countries and regions along the Belt and Road increased by 14.2%, accounting for 29.3% of the province’s total import and export value in the same period, and the proportion increased by 0.8 percentage points compared with 2018.
Jiangxi Satellite TV reporter (photo by Huang Yuting)
Jiangxi Satellite TV reporter:Statistics show that in 2019, the processing trade of our province increased significantly against the trend, which also played a very obvious role in promoting the foreign trade of our province. What specific measures has Nanchang Customs taken to promote the development of processing trade in our province?
Tang Fujiang, Deputy Director of Enterprise Management and Inspection Department of Nanchang Customs (photo by Huang Yuting)
Tang Fujiang:Thank you for your question. Nanchang Customs takes it as its responsibility to help Jiangxi build a new highland with two-way inland opening and realize the big pattern of rising in the central region, gives full play to its functional advantages, takes the initiative and takes effective measures to fully promote the rapid development of processing trade in Jiangxi Province. In 2019, China’s processing trade generally showed a downward trend, and the processing trade business in Jiangxi Province increased significantly against the trend (the import and export of processing trade was 89.01 billion yuan, up 50.4% year-on-year. Since April 2019, the growth rate of processing trade import and export in Jiangxi Province has been ranked second in the country for nine consecutive months), which has played a positive role in promoting the growth of foreign trade in Jiangxi Province.
The first is to optimize supervision and help processing trade enterprises "reduce their burdens". It is the first in the national customs to fully launch the second-phase processing trade management system of Jinguan, and build a "smart supervision" system, so that enterprises can handle business "without leaving home" and realize the management mode of independent filing, independent reporting and independent tax payment. We will promote the "streamline administration, delegate power, strengthen regulation and improve services" reform, optimize the processing trade audit operation, cancel 6 items such as outsourcing processing approval and deep processing carry-over registration, and reduce 13 items such as domestic sales contact sheets. Actively promote the co-management mechanism of online public auction of processing trade scrap for domestic sales, implement domestic sales facilitation measures, encourage qualified enterprises to centrally handle domestic sales declaration and tax payment procedures, and ease the operating pressure of processing trade enterprises. In 2019, the sales value of processing trade in the province was 12.554 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 29.22%.
The second is to deepen reform and help processing trade enterprises "increase efficiency". We will promote the supervision reform of processing trade with enterprises as a unit, solve the problems such as unsmooth carry-over and inconvenient write-off, and stimulate the enthusiasm of enterprises to expand production. Since the implementation of the reform, 19 enterprises have participated in it. The reform of personalized "work order" write-off was promoted, and the quantitative and dynamic supervision of enterprise production and automatic comparison of inventory data were realized, which reduced the time spent on a single write-off from more than one month to less than 10 days and reduced the difference rate of write-off by two-thirds. Deepen the reform of "unit consumption and self-core", improve the self-discipline management of enterprises and optimize the relationship between power and responsibility of enterprises. At present, 24 processing trade enterprises have participated in the reform, contributing a total of 11.797 billion yuan to the import and export of processing trade.
The third is to innovate services to help processing trade enterprises "speed up". The key processing trade enterprises serving the coastal gradient transfer have tailored the supervision service plan for Jiangxi Lixun Zhizao Co., Ltd., which exempted a single processing trade risk deposit of 189 million yuan at the beginning of its opening, and helped it become the largest processing trade enterprise in the province. Support and help guide 15 processing trade enterprises in the province to become advanced certification enterprises, improve the efficiency of customs clearance by more than 50%, and save more than 30 million yuan per year. Guide the processing and manufacturing enterprises in the region to actively undertake the "subcontracting" business inside and outside the region, help the enterprises in the region to release surplus production capacity and effectively expand the domestic market. Two processing and trading enterprises in the region have carried out the "subcontracting" business, with the annual value of "subcontracting" of 80.2804 million yuan, effectively alleviating the operating pressure caused by Sino-US trade friction.
Jiangnan Metropolis Daily reporter (photo by Huang Yuting)
Jiangnan Metropolis Daily reporter:Please tell us about Jiangxi’s trade with the United States in 2019. On January 15th, China and the United States signed the first-stage trade agreement. What impact does this have on Jiangxi’s foreign trade?
Huang Qifeng:Thank you for your question. In 2019, Jiangxi’s exports to the United States were 35.61 billion yuan, down 3.7%, of which the monthly export volume in December was 3.82 billion yuan, up 47.4%, with double-digit growth for five consecutive months, and the export scale gradually recovered to the level before tariff increase. On January 15th, China and the United States signed the first stage trade agreement. According to the customs survey, enterprises in the province generally believe that the market uncertainty risk is converging, which will effectively boost market expectations; Partial tariff reduction and exemption will play a positive role in repairing the import and export of related commodities and help trade pick up. At present, Jiangxi has been weakened by economic and trade frictions.
Sino-US economic and trade friction has brought certain pressure to Jiangxi’s foreign trade, especially to foreign trade enterprises with the United States as the main market. Although Jiangxi’s exports to the United States have declined, enterprises have achieved remarkable results in exploring diversified markets. Exports to non-American markets have increased, and overall exports have maintained steady growth. In 2019, the province’s exports increased by 12.3% year-on-year.
We believe that with the signing of the first-stage trade agreement between China and the United States, it is of great positive significance to Jiangxi’s foreign trade, enterprise confidence and market expectations.
Nanchang Customs will resolutely implement the decision-making arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, conscientiously implement the deployment requirements of the General Administration of Customs and the provincial party committee and government, carry out the special action of "customs clearance is as efficient as coastal areas", constantly optimize the business environment at ports, promote cross-border trade facilitation, help enterprises improve quality and efficiency, and help enterprises effectively cope with the impact of Sino-US economic and trade frictions.
Information Daily reporter (photo by Huang Yuting)
Information Daily reporter:We noticed that the export of new energy products in our province showed an increasing trend in 2019. Could you tell us something about the main export of new energy products in our province? What support measures does the customs have?
Bu Yangang, Director of Commodity Inspection Department of Nanchang Customs (photo by Huang Yuting)
Bu Yangang:Thank you for your question. In 2019, the main new energy products in Jiangxi Province are solar cells and lithium hydroxide. Among them, the export performance of lithium hydroxide is particularly bright, with an annual export of 32,000 tons and a value of 2.7 billion yuan, up by 98.8% and 80.1% respectively, accounting for 56.5% of the international market share, and the export volume ranks first in the country, reflecting the strong kinetic energy of Jiangxi’s new energy industry. I have the following measures to support the export expansion of such products:
First, improve the mechanism to facilitate customs clearance. Optimize the operation procedures, implement classified management for lithium hydroxide export enterprises, and implement batch-by-batch inspection of products by combining on-site inspection and remote video inspection, greatly reducing the inspection time; At the same time, the implementation of periodic sampling inspection, appointment inspection and other systems, basically achieve zero waiting for delivery, help enterprises greatly shorten the delivery cycle.
The second is to reduce taxes and fees, release dividends and reduce costs. In view of the high total price and large tax of imported raw material spodumene ore, we will guide relevant enterprises to adopt bank guarantee, tariff guarantee insurance and other guarantee customs clearance modes to help enterprises reduce the capital occupation by nearly 10 million yuan; Guide enterprises to make full use of the preferential certificate of origin tariff reduction and exemption policy, and help enterprises enjoy foreign tariff reduction and exemption of 61.51 million yuan in 2019, a year-on-year increase of 115%; Implementing the new VAT policy for import links, since April 1, 2019, the import of spodumene in Jiangxi Province has been reduced by 56.88 million yuan.
The third is accurate assistance to help develop and solve problems. Implement the enterprise coordinator system, provide all-round services for enterprises such as Ganfeng Lithium Industry and Yabao Lithium Industry from business consultation, customs clearance coordination and credit cultivation, and help enterprises solve many problems such as export products stranded in Hong Kong and imported raw materials unable to be released at the port. Guide enterprises to make good use of the national customs clearance integration policy, and adopt the mode of territorial declaration and customs clearance for imported raw materials. In 2019, the average customs clearance time for imported spodumene ore in the province was less than 25 hours, and the fastest was less than 10 minutes, which was 70% year-on-year, which effectively guaranteed the supply of raw materials for enterprises. Through a series of measures, it will effectively help the export of new energy products in Jiangxi and promote the high-quality development of green economy.
Li Feng:Because of the time, that’s all for answering reporters’ questions. Thank you, publishers, journalists and friends. Welcome to continue to pay attention to the work of Nanchang Customs. Nanchang Customs has issued news materials, and journalists and friends are welcome to download and view them. If you have any questions, you can consult, communicate or interview after the meeting.
This concludes today’s press conference. Thank you!
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