The 10th anniversary of the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) has seen its benefits become increasingly evident year by year, with businesses fully enjoying the tangible benefits
On December 24th, in the production workshop of Henan Fuyide Industrial Co., Ltd. located in the Urban-Rural Integration Demonstration Zone of Luoyang City, machinery and equipment were busy operating, and a batch of steel filing cabinets worth over 2 million yuan was about to be packed and shipped to Australia.
"In the first 11 months, we applied for China-Australia Free Trade Agreement certificates of origin for office furniture valued at RMB 24.43 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 1.9 times," said Wang Wenyi, the company's customs manager. Policy dividends such as intelligent review and self-service printing of customs certificates of origin have greatly facilitated the accelerated export of products. Currently, the company's orders have been scheduled until April next year.
Australia is an important trading partner of our province. On December 20, 2015, the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement officially came into effect and the first round of tariff reductions was implemented. Over the past ten years since its implementation, trade between our province and Australia has experienced explosive growth. The import and export value has climbed from 12 billion yuan in the year when the agreement came into effect to 22.84 billion yuan in the first eleven months of this year, and the dividends of the free trade agreement have become increasingly prominent year by year.
The China-Australia Free Trade Agreement is the first free trade agreement China has negotiated with a major developed economy with a large economic aggregate. It features a high level of liberalization, covers a wide range of topics, and involves a significant trade volume, making it well-known among numerous foreign trade enterprises and ordinary consumers. Australia is well-developed in agriculture, animal husbandry, and mining, and its minerals, energy, and resource-based agricultural products can meet the needs of Henan's rapid economic development. At the same time, Henan's high-quality industrial manufactured goods also meet the market demand in Australia. Henan and Australia have strong economic complementarity, trade relations are increasingly close, and there is great potential for cooperation between the two sides.
In terms of imports, China has completed tax reductions for over 98% of goods imported from Australia. High-quality and abundant Australian specialty products such as wine, salmon, and lobster have entered the homes of ordinary people at lower prices.
In terms of exports, all goods exported from China to Australia can enjoy zero tariff treatment with the certificate of origin under the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement, achieving a liberalization level of 100%. Over the past ten years, Zhengzhou Customs has issued a total of 53,000 certificates of origin under the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement, with a total value of approximately 16.45 billion yuan, representing an average annual increase of 15%.
Currently, China is Australia's largest trading partner in goods and the largest source of imports, with "Made in China" products ubiquitous in the local market. Moving forward, Zhengzhou Customs will leverage the tenth anniversary of the entry into force of the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement as an opportunity to further intensify the implementation of tariff reduction measures, thereby assisting enterprises in our province in reaping more tariff benefits.