It was learned at a July 17 press conference held by Changsha Customs that to support of Hunan in stabilizing foreign trade volume and improving its structure, the customs authority has rolled out 22 measures under the “Hunan Enterprises Going Global” initiative and 25 measures to facilitate cross-border trade, all of which have yielded positive results so far.

New Progress in Development of the Pilot Zone for In-depth China–Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation

To ensure the precise, full implementation of China’s comprehensive zero-tariff policy for African countries and enable enterprises to enjoy benefits without delay, Changsha Customs has conducted policy outreach and guidance through multiple channels. It has answered in detail enterprise concerns including origin verification and preferential tariff declaration, while dynamically tracking the declaration and preference utilization status of African imports. By the end of June, cumulative tariff reductions for Hunan’s imports from Africa had reached 4.4832 million CNY, coving major products such as sesame seeds, coffee beans, mica sheets and aquatic products.

In June, at the Morocco Special Event of the “Going to Africa” campaign under the China–Africa Economic and Trade Expo, Changsha Customs officially launched Version 2.0 of the China–Africa SPS Cooperation Information Network. The upgraded platform hosts four new databases, with monthly visits up threefold month on month and cumulative visits surpassing 1.9 million. This year, building on the innovative Pre-assessment Systems for African Foodstuffs Exported to China—a pilot initiative of the China (Hunan) Pilot Free Trade Zone—Changsha Customs assisted the General Administration of Customs in completing market access assessments for cashew nuts and wild aquatic products from African countries with diplomatic ties to China. Both product categories have now obtained unified regional market access, giving a strong boost to the development of a “green channel” for African agricultural and food products entering China.

In the first half, Hunan imported 180 million CNY worth of agricultural and food products from Africa, up 13.6 percent year on year. In May and June, after the comprehensive zero-tariff policy took full effect, imports of these products reached 82.375 million CNY, marking a 102.1 percent year-on-year increase.

Disclaimer:

This is an English translation of the original Chinese version and is provided for reference only. In the event of any discrepancy, the Chinese version shall prevail.