New customs practice boosts B2B e-commerce export

Two months after 10 Chinese customs began an experimental supervision mode to boost B2B e-commerce export, 12 more customs were added to the pilot program on Sept 1 by China's General Administration of Customs.

B2B e-commerce export refers to either direct export of goods from domestic businesses to overseas businesses by cross-border logistics based on their mutual deals over a cross-border e-commerce platform, or the export of goods by a domestic company to its overseas warehouse, from which the goods will be delivered to overseas buyers based on their deals over a cross-border e-commerce platform.

Compared with traditional export, e-commerce B2B exporters, starting from Tuesday, will be given support in various forms, including one-off registration, streamlined declarations, expedited clearance at lower costs, as well as prior inspection and customs transit at the 12 newly-added customs nationwide, including Chongqing, Chengdu, Changsha, and Shanghai.

Between July 1 and Aug 30, the 10 pilot customs had inspected and cleared a total of 6.32 million batches of exported goods under the pilot program.

"Customs clearance time is shorter under the new mode, which helps avoid overdue returns caused by unstable international transportation," said Li Ou, general manager of a logistics firm in Chengdu, which is about to ship a batch of goods to the United States via cross-border e-commerce B2B export.

The pilot program will provide cross-border e-commerce B2B export enterprises in Chengdu, especially to micro, small and medium-sized ones, with more convenient channels, and help "made-in-Chengdu" products to enter global industrial and supply chains, according to the municipal bureau of commerce.

Also on Sept 1, 45 metric tons of clothing, shoes, daily necessities, and electronic accessories worth more than 2.5 million yuan (about $366,750), were declared to the Changsha Customs in Central China's Hunan province through the new mode and are being exported to the United States, Germany, Kazakstan, and other countries.

In Shanghai, local customs, taking into account the actual circumstances of small businesses, has introduced paperless processes of clearance for certain goods when a single consignment is worth less than 5,000 yuan.

Customs statistics showed that the value of imports and exports transacted online by cross-border e-commerce enterprises reached 604.4 billion yuan in the first half of 2020, up by 6.7 percent year-on-year.

Zhuang Rui, deputy dean of the Institute of International Economy at the University of International Business and Economics, said the number of customs agencies in the pilot program has more than doubled in just two months, showing the program is effective and helpful for enterprises.

"It also reflects China's accelerating pace of opening up and the world's increasing demand for Chinese products. The expansion of pilot program is a win-win move," Zhuang said.