Daily Universal Digital | China vigorously expands imports to enrich supplies for consumers

By Luo Shanshan, People’s Daily

A bazaar selling popular foreign products fromthe annual China International Import Expo (CIIE) is drawing flocks of visitorsacross the country.

The bazaar is named the CIIE Bazaar City Arena, located on Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street in east China’s Shanghai. With a floor space of 500 square meters, it houses over 5,000types of CIIE products and distinctive goods across 25 country-specific pavilions.

“The CIIE-themed bazaar provides us with a great opportunity to bring Sri Lankan specialties to Chinese consumers,” said a staff member working in the Sri Lanka pavilion.

Since its inception in 2018, the annual CIIE has become a crucial platform to promote foreign goods in the Chinese market, leading to a rapid increase in CIIE-featured products adopted by Chinese households.

By increasing imports of high-quality products, China aims to meetpeople’s desire for a better life and promote industrial upgrading.

In recent years, China has been pursuing high-standard opening up to advance in-depth reform and high-quality development, which involves expanding import channels, lowering import tariffs, and facilitating customs clearance.

In 2023, China remained the world’s second top merchandise importer for the 15th consecutive year with its imports worth $2.56 trillion and its share in the world imports at 10.6 percent.

In the first five months of 2024, the country’s imports hit7.55 trillion yuan ($1.04 trillion), marking a 6.4 percent year-on-year increase.

Broader import channels: By hosting international exhibitions such as the CIIE and the China International Consumer Products Expo (CICPE), and developing cross-border e-commerce, China has opened up more channels to bring in high-quality products from around the world.

“It’s very convenient to buy imported goods from both e-commerce platforms and traditional marketplaces,”said Zhang Yang, a Beijing resident who often purchases imported fruit wines and tea beverages at local shops near his home.

Lower import tariffs: Since January 1 this year, China has further cut its import tariffs by implementingprovisional import tariff rates lower than the most-favored-nation rates on 1,010 commodities.

Currently, China’s average import tariff rate is around 7 percent, lower than the 10 percent average import tariff rate of developing countries as shown by statistics from the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Faster customs clearance: On June 1 last year, Shanghai customs authorities launched a pilot reform, merging the Certificate of Importation of Goods with the Inspection Sheet for Imported Vehicles.

This practice has enableda recent batch of imported vehicles to go through customs procedures more quickly upon their arrival at Shanghai Haitong International Automobile Terminal in Shanghai’s Waigaoqiao port area.

“Previously, we had to obtain the two documents from different customs service windows in sequence,” according to Huang Longwu, manager of the Shanghai logistics center of Mercedes-Benz Sales Service Co., Ltd., Beijing.

Nowwith the requirement of only one document, the process can be completed within half a day, greatly boosting efficiency, Huang added.

China has been opening its door wider and wider to the outside world, welcoming more high-quality products and services to its market.

For instance, China’s Ministry of Commerce and other departments have ramped up efforts to promote reform and opening up in the import sector.

So far, China has established 43 national demonstration zones for import promotion and innovation, along with multiple platforms for consumer goods imports and trading centers for bulk commodities, fosteringin-depth integration of import with industrial development and consumption andeffectively stimulating the momentum and potential for import development.

Tourists buy foreign products fromthe annual China International Import Expo (CIIE) at the CIIE Bazaar City Arena, on Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street in east China’s Shanghai, May 15, 2024. (Photo by Wang Gang/People’s Daily Online)

Photo taken on February 6, 2024 shows tourists shopping for imported products carried to China by China-Europe freight trains at a store in the waiting hall of Zhengzhoudong Railway Station in Zhengzhou, capital of central China’s Henan province. The store is dedicated to imported goods via the China-Europe freight trains. (Photo by Wang Wei/People’s Daily Online)

A cold-chain freight train loaded with durians from Thailand pulls into a railway port in Nanchang city, capital of east China’s Jiangxi province, July 11, 2024. (Photo by Li Jie/People’s Daily Online)

中国积极扩大进口 丰富消费供给

人民日报记者罗珊珊

　　位于上海南京东路的进博集市城市会客厅里，不少游客前来打卡。500平方米的空间内设有25个国别主题馆，引入5000余款进博同款和国别特色商品。斯里兰卡进口馆内，员工李杰德为顾客介绍商品：“进博集市提供了一个极好的机会，将斯里兰卡的特色商品带给中国消费者。”自2018年以来，进博会连年举办，已成为进口商品打开中国市场的重要窗口，更多进博同款商品快速走进百姓家中。

　　积极扩大优质产品进口，有利于满足百姓对美好生活的需要，促进产业升级。近年来，中国实行积极主动的开放战略，以高水平开放促进深层次改革，不断拓宽进口渠道、降低进口关税、优化通关管理。2023年，中国进口2.56万亿美元，国际市场份额10.6%，连续15年保持全球第二。今年前5月，中国进口7.55万亿元，同比增长6.4%。

　　渠道更多了。“现在，线上线下购买进口商品都很方便。”除了网购，北京市居民张扬经常在家门口的小商店购买进口果酒茶饮。举办进博会、消博会等国际展会，促进跨境电商健康发展，中国市场敞开怀抱欢迎全球好物。

　　关税更低了。今年1月1日起，中国对1010项商品实施低于最惠国税率的进口暂定税率。如今，中国进口平均关税水平在7%左右，而世贸组织统计的发展中国家进口平均关税水平在10%左右。

　　通关更快了。日前，1221辆进口汽车运抵上海外高桥港区海通国际汽车码头，几小时后就完成了通关程序。去年6月1日，进口机动车辆《货物进口证明书》和《进口机动车辆随车检验单》“两证合一”改革试点在上海海关正式启动。“以前，企业需在海关不同业务窗口、分先后领取这两份单证。‘两证合一’后，只要申领一个证书，半天就能拿到，手续简化，效率提升。”北京梅赛德斯—奔驰销售服务有限公司上海物流中心经理黄龙武说。

开放的大门越开越大，更多优质产品和服务进入中国市场。商务部等部门积极促进进口领域改革开放，目前已在全国设立43个进口贸易促进创新示范区，打造一批消费品进口平台和大宗商品交易中心，促进进口贸易与产业、消费的深度融合，激发进口发展的动能和潜力。