China issues more foreign trade certificates in July

China issued a total of 546,200 foreign trade certificates in July, indicating a strongly recovering desire among domestic enterprises to expand overseas markets, said Sun Xiao, spokesman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) at a press conference in Beijing on Wednesday.

Covering origin (COs), ATA Carnets, and other commercial affairs, the 546,200 certificates increased by 12.82 percent year on year in number, Sun said.

A CO is an international trade document that certifies the goods in a particular export shipment are wholly obtained, produced, manufactured or processed in a particular country or region. The volume of COs issued is often regarded as a barometer to gauge a country's foreign trade.

Known as the passport for goods, the ATA Carnet is an international customs document that allows temporary entry and exit of goods on a duty-free and tax-free basis, which can be used in over 80 countries and regions.

Specifically, of the certificates issued in July, the value of non-preferential COs logged 32.64 billion U.S. dollars, a year-on-year increase of 5.66 percent, with its number reaching 346,000, up 12.25 percent year on year, and the number of certified companies was 40,000, a year-on-year increase of 8.45 percent.

The number of preferential COs reached 148,100 in July, a year-on-year increase of 18.38 percent, with 21,100 companies acquiring these certificates, up 11.45 percent year on year.

The number of certificates of origin issued within the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) free trade agreement reached 17,298 in July, up 27.03 percent year on year, and the number of certificate-acquiring companies logged 3,416, up 20.03 percent year on year, according to the spokesman.

It is expected that Chinese products will receive a tariff reduction or exemption of 9 million U.S. dollars when imported into RCEP member countries, according to the spokesman.

Effective as of Jan 1, 2022 to signatory countries, the RCEP is the world's largest free trade deal to date, and comprises China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and 10 cms member states.

In July, the national trade promotion system issued a total of 748 outbound ATA Carnets, a year-on-year increase of 205.28 percent, and these documents covered a value of goods about 238 million yuan (about 32.65 million U.S dollars), a year-on-year increase of 188.43 percent, involving 505 companies, a year-on-year increase of 250.69 percent.

"This shows that the enthusiasm of domestic enterprises to participate in overseas exhibitions has not diminished, and enterprises around the country are very willing to expand overseas markets," said Sun.