Spokesman on key issues

The Belt and Road Initiative

A notable improvement has been made to diversify China's trade partners.

Strong momentum was seen in exports to emerging markets and nations along the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

China's exports to countries along the Belt and Road such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Egypt increased by double-digit percentages.

The General Administration of Customs strengthened its coordination with relevant departments earlier this year to deepen trade and economic cooperation with countries along the Belt and Road and will continue the efforts.

China-US trade

The United States remained China's second-largest trading partner after the European Union during the first half of 2015. Bilateral trade totaled 1.64 trillion yuan ($262 billion), up 4 percent year-on-year, accounting for 14.2 percent of China's total foreign trade.

Judging from the current global economic situation, the recovering US economy and enhanced consumer confidence supported China's exports to the US in the first half. The General Administration of Customs predicts China-US trade to improve.

Cross-border e-commerce

As China's cross-border e-commerce market matures, online platforms cannot rely on Chinese consumers spending more each year on the same products.

They also need to expand their customer bases throughout the world, and engaging in cross-border e-commerce is one of the most practical solutions.

The General Administration of Customs is working with other government departments to establish experimental service branches, related data collection platforms, as well as adding new customs supervision methods for both exports and imports.

China began to offer nonstop customs clearance services for global online trading on May 15. All customs procedures must now be completed within 24 hours.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 07/17/2015 page23)