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Qingdao customs cuts tariffs by 900m yuan

(chinadaily.com.cn) | 2021-03-08

Due to the preferential trade agreements between China and ASEAN, Qingdao customs has reduced and exempted tariffs totaling 900 million yuan ($138.33 million) for imported goods from RCEP member countries in the first two months of this year. The value of these goods totaled 12 billion yuan.

After eight years of negotiations, 15 Asia-Pacific countries signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the world's biggest trade pact, on Nov 15, 2020.

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A customs officer in Shandong province explains tariff concession to members of local enterprises. [Photo/qingdaonews.com]

The agreement involves all 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and five of its major trading partners - China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

"Although the RCEP has not yet come into force, we can enjoy tariff concessions under China’s free trade agreement with South Korea, a member nation of the RCEP," said Wei Wei, a senior manager of DICC (Doosan Infracore China Corporation). The company is invested by South Korea-based Doosan Infracore in Yantai city.

Wei said that in 2020, the company enjoyed a tariff reduction of more than 40 million yuan on its imports from South Korea that were worth 3.1 billion yuan.

"The product price advantage brought by tariff reduction has helped us to expand to a larger consumer market," said Wei.

Doosan Infracore sold 18,000 excavators in China last year, up 22.4 percent year-on-year.

In the first two months of this year, Qingdao customs issued certificates of origin for 48,000 batches of goods worth $1.93 billion that was exported to RCEP member states. These goods were eligible for tariff concessions of $110 million.

This year, Qingdao customs will intensify cooperation with Jinan customs, the Shandong Sub-council of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and other divisions to launch a series of training courses that would help enterprise seize opportunities brought about by the signing of RCEP, said local officials.