Ningbo to benefit from electronic certificate of origin in Sino-Chile trade

A delegation from the United Nations visits the Ningbo Import Goods Center on Nov 4. [Photo/IC]

China will find importing fresh products from Chile more convenient as an electronic information exchange system for the Sino-Chile Free Trade Agreement will be launched on Jan 1, 2019. 

The system, for exchanging the electronic certificate of origin of goods traded under the agreement, will be the first one of its kind established between China and a Latin American country. 

The certificate of origin is used to attest the origin or place of manufacture of goods, and is important for goods delivery, customs clearance and customs collection. 

With an electronic certificate of origin, the time for China to check the origin of imported goods from Chile will be greatly shortened, which facilitates their customs clearance.

Ningbo, a city with thriving foreign trade, will also benefit from the system. 

Statistics from Ningbo Customs show that Ningbo's foreign trade with Chile totaled 19.37 billion yuan ($2.81 billion) in the first 11 months of the year, up 14.4 percent year-on-year and 35.5 times more than that in 2006 when the Sino-Chile Free Trade Agreement was implemented.

"More and more fruits and seafood varieties from Chile are expected to be imported to Ningbo with the implementation of the system," said Feng Linbo of Ningbo Dingyu International Logistics Co.

Many cargo containers are piled at the Ningbo-Zhoushan Port. [Photo/IC]