Recently, Rwanda, Oman, Chad and Jordan submitted approval documents for the Trade Facilitation Agreement (hereinafter referred to as the “Agreement”) to the World Trade Organization (WTO). So far, the number of members that have ratified the Agreement has reached 112, exceeding the legal threshold of 2/3 of the total number of WTO members required to take effect. The Agreement has officially entered into force and will be officially implemented for members that have ratified the Agreement. Experts pointed out that in the context of a weak global economy and rising protectionism, the entry into force of the Agreement will simplify trade procedures, promote economic and trade exchanges between countries, and thereby promote global economic growth. For China, as the world’s largest trader of goods, this is undoubtedly a major benefit for stabilizing foreign trade and further strengthening the economy.
Trade procedures tend to be simplified
The issue of trade facilitation was first included in the WTO work agenda at the Singapore Ministerial Conference in 1996, and China in 2015 The agreement was approved in September.
According to relevant rules, members that ratify the agreement will fulfill their commitments in terms of transparency of policies and regulations, modernization of management measures, and collaborative cooperation between port management departments from the date of the agreement’s entry into force. For China, in addition to setting a transition period for a few measures such as a single window, determining and announcing the average release time, duty-free re-importation of outbound processed goods, and customs cooperation, it also includes measures to simplify document procedures and standardize import and export fees. will be implemented immediately.
According to calculations by international organizations, if the Agreement can be effectively implemented, it will reduce global trade costs by approximately 14.3% and contribute 2.7 percentage points to global trade growth by 2030. Developing economies and the largest The overseas market size of export commodities from underdeveloped economies will expand by 1/3 and 60% respectively, driving global economic growth of US$960 billion and adding more than 20 million jobs.
The foreign trade environment is expected to pick up
Peng Zhiwei, associate professor of the Department of International Economics and Trade of Nankai University, pointed out in an interview with this reporter that under the current background, there is also the WTO The member states have adopted the Agreement and made it finally come into effect. Although it will not cause a particularly big change in the trade pattern in the short term, this change clearly conveys a clear and positive message to the entire world economy and international trade. This signal will help China’s foreign trade environment to pick up and improve.
“On the surface, customs clearance seems inconspicuous, but people in the industry can appreciate the huge hidden impact of customs clearance speed and trade facilitation on international trade. Therefore, the Agreement “The entry into force is expected to further reduce the costs of Chinese foreign trade companies, thereby benefiting the Chinese economy.” Peng Zhiwei said.
The relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Commerce said that on the one hand, the implementation of the “Agreement” will help modernize China’s comprehensive port management system, improve the competitiveness of Chinese products and improve the environment for attracting foreign investment; on the other hand, the “Agreement” Implementation will generally improve the level of trade facilitation for China’s trading partners, create a convenient customs clearance environment for Chinese product exports, and broadly benefit enterprises.
The economy is more confident to improve
Experts pointed out that more countries have ratified the Agreement, which shows that there is still strong trade facilitation around the world. demand and the desire to promote economic globalization, but trade protectionism will not give up easily. Ruan Qingsong, deputy dean of the School of Economics and Management at Tongji University, believes that although it is unlikely that a large-scale trade war will break out globally in the future, there is a high possibility that there will be more trade frictions targeting certain companies and certain industries.
“It needs to be noted that the interest demands of different countries and different groups are becoming increasingly diversified, and their implementation of the Agreement remains to be further observed. As far as China is concerned, it should take the lead in doing a good job in the “Trade Facilitation” in the future. The implementation of the Agreement will provide more convenience for domestic enterprises and overseas trading partners, while focusing on maintaining communication with relevant countries and industry enterprises to ensure that when trade disputes arise, everyone can properly resolve issues under the WTO framework and achieve a win-win situation.” Peng Zhiwei said.
It is worth noting that many international institutions such as the European Commission, Credit Suisse Securities, and the Royal Bank of Scotland have recently raised their expectations for China’s economy. These institutions believe that China’s economy has strong demand, huge potential, and strong endogenous growth momentum. In particular, as global demand recovers, China’s exports will further improve, and China’s economy will stabilize and improve in 2017. It can be seen that the entry into force of the Agreement will increase the confidence of China’s economy to realize this positive expectation.
