More firms to benefit from AEO program

China will expand its pool of companies certified under the Authorized Economic Operator program and broaden mutual recognition arrangements with Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation economies to help more businesses benefit from streamlined cross-border trade procedures, customs officials said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a seminar organized by the General Administration of Customs during the ongoing third APEC Senior Officials' Meeting in Dalian, Liaoning province, they said these measures would make AEO certification a stronger tool for supporting smaller businesses, boosting participation in trade and fostering a more open, inclusive and resilient Asia-Pacific trading environment.

The AEO program, promoted by the World Customs Organization, is designed to strengthen international supply chain security and facilitate the movement of legitimate goods.

Under the program, customs authorities work with businesses to streamline customs procedures and improve the efficiency of international trade.

Lazzat Daniyarova, a technical officer at the Brussels-based World Customs Organization, said that integrating more small- and medium-sized enterprises into AEO programs would make the system more inclusive and give smaller businesses greater access to secure trade and sustainable growth opportunities.

Lin Jiantian, director of the GAC's department of enterprise management and audit-based control, said China will pursue mutual AEO recognition with more economies to enable businesses across the Asia-Pacific to benefit from faster and more efficient customs clearance.

All APEC economies except Papua New Guinea have AEO programs in place. China has established mutual recognition arrangements with 10 of them, including Australia, Singapore and South Korea.

China's AEO-certified companies recorded 16.76 trillion yuan ($2.49 trillion) in foreign trade in the first seven months of 2026, accounting for 44.2 percent of the country's total, up 5.77 percentage points from a year earlier.

Meanwhile, their trade with other APEC economies rose 21.87 percent year-on-year to 9.19 trillion yuan.

The GAC said Chinese customs officials will also hold discussions with their counterparts from Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam, as well as representatives of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Secretariat, to accelerate AEO mutual recognition and identify priorities for the next phase of cooperation.

Olgun Basel, supply chain director at Einhell Germany AG, a German industrial goods trading company based in Shanghai, said the company's import clearance times have fallen by 80 percent since it gained AEO certification in February.

Basel said that preparing for AEO certification also prompted the company to improve internal controls, documentation and risk management, helping to optimize its operations and build trust with customers in overseas markets.

China had more than 15,450 AEO-certified companies as of the end of July and has signed 34 mutual recognition agreements covering 60 countries and regions.

China is hosting the third APEC Senior Officials' Meeting in Dalian from Monday through Aug 28, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.