General Administration of Customs introduces 16 reform measures

The General Administration of Customs' latest move of introducing 16 reform measures to promote high-quality development in processing trade will further enhance the role of policy guidance in supporting the gradual transition of industries within China, said an official on Tuesday.

These measures, such as supporting the processing trade of strategic commodities in the main import areas of China's central, western and northeastern regions, will leverage the resource advantages and industrial characteristics of these regions, said Huang Lingli, deputy director of the GAC's commodity inspection department.

The new policies encourage the import of energy and resource commodities such as crude oil, coal, natural gas, iron ore, copper concentrate and grains, said Huang.

She said this involves the construction of bonded warehouses and transportation bases in the main import areas of China's central, western and northeastern regions, facilitating on-site processing trade to stabilize the supply chain and industrial chain of strategic commodities.

Processing trade refers to the business activity of importing all, or part of, the raw and auxiliary materials from abroad, and re-exporting the finished products after processing or assembly by companies within the Chinese mainland.