China on Monday rolled out new measures that will curb the
development of processing trade for labor-intensive industries, yet
another attempt to bring the rising trade surplus under
control.
The new policy, to come into being on August 23, will target
1,853 products in plastics, furniture and textiles and other
labor-intensive industries.
All enterprises manufacturing the products concerned must now
have guarantee deposits in the Bank of China, the designated bank
of China Customs, while also registering their process trade
contracts with the authorities, according to the statement jointly
released by the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) and China Customs.
Should enterprises be found in breach of such regulations, they
would lose their deposits and interest and forfeit them to the
customs house.
"We are striving to improve the development of China's
processing trade in a bid to promote trade balance and reduce the
trade surplus," said Wei Jianguo, vice minister of the MOC.
According to the statement published on the ministry's website,
the move will especially seek to bring high polluting and
high-energy-consuming industries in eastern regions of China under
control, namely Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Liaoning, Hebei,
Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong.
Enterprises in these regions without export rights as of July
23, 2007 will not be allowed to process the blacklisted product,
although western regions remain, for now, untouched by the
move.
Customs data put the domestic processing trade volume in the
first six months at US$440.9 billion, translating as a 17.6 percent
rise, accounting for nearly half of China's imports and exports.
From the US$2.5 billion annual level in 1981, China has seen its
processing trade volume soar to US$831.9 billion in 2006.
Since 2003, the Chinese government has sought to make
transnational companies relocate their high-tech and
high-value-added processing businesses and relevant research
institutions to China to advance its industrial capabilities.
"We will continue to improve the categorization of processing
industries and set stricter entry standards for enterprises engaged
in the processing trade," said Wei.
(Xinhua News Agency July 24, 2007)
