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Strengthening the Credit Background of Enterprises and Enhancing the Resilience of Asia Pacific Trade

Printed circuit boards embedded in communication equipment, unloading trucks and ship loaders serving ports and terminals, transformers used in overseas computing centers... More and more "Made in China" going global relies on multi-dimensional strong guarantees such as customs clearance, logistics, and credit. Against the backdrop of global trade facing risks and challenges, how can foreign trade enterprises unlock new development space with credit, enhance trade resilience and economic vitality in the Asia Pacific region?

This year is the "China Year" of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). On August 19th, one of the series of events of the third APEC Senior Officials' Meeting in 2026, the APEC "Certified Operators" (AEO) Symposium, was held in Dalian, Liaoning Province. More than 120 representatives from 13 APEC economies, customs, relevant international organizations, AEO enterprises, and others had in-depth discussions and exchanges on this topic.

Providing more convenience and continuously improving the sense of benefit for AEO enterprises is an important task of China Customs. ”Lin Jiantian, Director of the Enterprise Management and Inspection Department of the General Administration of Customs, introduced that compared with conventional enterprises, the average inspection rate of AEO enterprises has decreased by 20%, and the average customs clearance time for imports has been shortened by 34%; Customs also creatively promotes joint incentives to help AEO enterprises enjoy "green channels" and simplified procedures in market supervision, taxation, and other departments, as well as "real money" measures such as convenient settlement, fee reduction, and credit support in financial departments such as banks, expanding the policy effect of credit incentives.

With the deepening of a new round of technological revolution, China continues to deepen the integration and application of emerging technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence with customs supervision, accelerating the release of AEO dividends with the power of technology, and steadily improving the level of APEC economic and trade cooperation.

For example, the enterprise portrait system established by the Chinese customs uses big data algorithms to convert enterprise compliance information, import and export information, etc. into enterprise behavior labels. It conducts credit evaluations through more than 200 indicators in 5 categories, and adds more than 800 labels to nearly 3 million enterprises, making the characteristics of enterprise operation visible intuitively; The "China Customs Credit Management Service Platform" built allows enterprise personnel to easily click on their mobile phones to consult policies, raise questions, and express suggestions to customs without leaving their homes. More than 800 coordinators from customs across the country can provide responses to enterprises within 2 hours

International guests generally believe that "China's experience and practices in improving service efficiency through digital technology are very worthy of reference". Brendan Pearce, Customs Counsellor at the Embassy of New Zealand in China, stated that this meeting deepened the participants' understanding of the advantages and dividends of AEO systems in different economies, and helped to think deeply about how to further empower enterprise development with credit, cultivate competitive advantages through technological innovation, and contribute to the resilience improvement and digital transformation of regional industrial and supply chains.

Since signing the first AEO mutual recognition agreement with Singapore in 2012, China has signed a total of 34 AEO mutual recognition agreements, covering 60 countries (regions). The number of mutual recognition agreements signed, countries (regions) recognized, and implemented ranks first in the world, better supporting enterprises to enjoy global benefits.

Lin Jiantian stated that AEO certification is crucial for maintaining the security and stability of the supply chain. With AEO cooperation as the link, Chinese customs will work together with APEC member economies to build a more open, inclusive, and resilient Asia Pacific trade ecosystem by expanding the scale of AEO enterprises, lengthening the list of convenient measures, expanding the scope of AEO mutual recognition, and enhancing the effectiveness of AEO mutual recognition.