Foreign Trade Updates
European Parliament resumed legislative work on US-EU trade agreement on Feb 4. Earlier, it suspended approval on Jan 21 due to Trump's tariffs on 8 EU countries over Greenland. The committee will accelerate work if US respects EU sovereignty. The agreement's core includes EU suspending industrial tariffs for US 15% tariff on most EU exports. Proposals may be voted on Feb 24 earliest.
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A Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesperson expressed strong dissatisfaction over the EU's in-depth investigation into Chinese wind power enterprises via the Foreign Subsidies Regulation, deeming it targeted, discriminatory and protectionist. China urges the EU to correct wrong practices, safeguard fair cooperation and vows to protect Chinese enterprises' legitimate rights.
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The first plenary meeting of the 2026 APEC Customs Procedures Subcommittee was held in Guangzhou. China Customs (2026 chair) issued three initiatives; China-APEC economies' trade reached 125.49t yuan (14th Five-Year), 26.29t in 2025 (nearly 60% of China's foreign trade). The meeting focuses on Asia Pacific common prosperity.
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Recently, Beijing Customs Anti Smuggling Bureau cracked a series of Rolex and other famous brand watches smuggling cases after 40-day investigation, dismantled a cross-border smuggling network, seized goods worth over 5.2 million yuan, used "ant moving" technique, arrested suspects in 5 cities, and reminded public against smuggling acts.
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On Jan 30th, 2026, Zhongwei Customs supervised and lectured dangerous goods export enterprises in Taiyangshan Development Zone, Wuzhong City, focusing on the "batch inspection" reform. In 2026, it will deepen "new enterprises/products" cultivation, support enterprises like Ningxia Gangxing to explore overseas markets, and promote the "dual park" development to boost local foreign trade.
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The "Phoenix Pine" ship carrying 19 Chinese-made heavy engineering trucks set sail from Rizhao Port's Lanshan Area via the new "Lanshan Mtwara" route to Tanzania. These trucks will support local infrastructure, with customs' "direct loading upon arrival" mode improving efficiency. The route boosts China-Africa cooperation and Belt and Road construction.
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China Water Transport Network: Zhejiang Ningbo Customs' 'Robot Dog' Empowers Port Inspection Upgrade
Ningbo Customs introduced AI quadruped robots for container inspection at Meishan Port Area (Ningbo Zhoushan Port). The robot operates 24/7, inspects up to 100 boxes/day (twice manual efficiency), achieves 92% box recognition accuracy, solves manual limitations (staff shortage, weather), and supports smart customs construction.
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Recently, Ningbo Haiwen's red lanterns with zodiac horse pattern (symbolizing good meanings) saw export growth as Chinese cultural products gain popularity overseas. Yinzhou Customs launched green channel and convenient measures to support smooth export, and will further assist in IP protection for such products.
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Ningbo Port (China's largest recycled copper/alloy raw material import port) has Ningbo Customs launching differentiated inspection & supervision pilot for low-risk recycled metal raw materials. Measures include pre-shipment supervision, full-process info monitoring. By Dec 31, 2025, 165 batches (7057.92 tons, 517m yuan) cleared, exploring a national safety-efficiency balanced supervision path.
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Shanghai's 2025 foreign trade reached 4.51 trillion yuan (5.6% YoY growth, historic high), leading national growth. It grew in trade with 167 regions, emerging markets double-digit, new trade forms as drivers, high-end manufacturing exports rising, and special supervision areas contributing over 40% of total trade.
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In 2025, Bengbu's home appliance exports hit 100 million yuan (36.9% YoY growth). Enterprises like Huacai Electric and Liangjian Technology expanded to Indonesia, Germany etc., supported by Bengbu Customs' measures (origin certificates, AEO recognition) to cut trade costs.
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During the 2026 Spring Festival travel rush, Chengdu Airport’s intelligent facilities enable 8-in-1 customs checks (≈5s). First day inbound/outbound passengers exceeded 20k, total expected over 750k (20% yoy increase). Passengers praised the fast clearance, with smooth operations from port units and airlines.
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On February 3, Fuzhou Customs launched the "whitelist" management system for imported hazardous chemicals, with Fuzhou BOE Optoelectronics as the first beneficiary. The system reduces inspection rates, cuts costs, boosts customs clearance efficiency, and supports high-tech industry development.
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On Feb 3, Ningde Customs supervised the Panamanian semi-submersible "Road of Hope" carrying 5 Chinese marine engineering ships to Tanzania (BRI). It’s Ningde’s first 2026 export batch. Customs used customized "direct loading at anchorage" mode, convenient measures, and tech (UAV, AIS) to solve transport issues, cutting cycles by 70%. Future plans: deepen supervision reforms for special ships.
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Under the 14th Five-Year Plan and China-South Korea FTA, Jiangmen leverages GBA and overseas Chinese resources for robust Sino-Korean trade. 2025 imports/exports hit 4.26b yuan (6.7% YoY). Jiangmen Customs provides facilitating measures (policy lectures, smart origin certificates, green channels) to help enterprises (e.g., Liyi Metal) expand in Korea. It also supports IC imports (250m yuan, 96.7% YoY in Pengjiang 2025). Future reforms aim to upgrade trade, boosting East Asian economic integration.
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On January 1st, RCEP officially took effect for four years. Jiangmen Customs promoted RCEP tariff reduction policies via self-printed certificates, approved exporters etc., issuing 14,000 RCEP certificates (involving 5 billion yuan) by end-2025, cutting visa time to minutes and helping enterprises enjoy dividends.
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As the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics approaches, the ice and snow economy boosts demand for sports equipment, driving growing exports of Zhejiang-made sports goods. Taizhou Customs supports enterprises, with Zhejiang's sports goods exports reaching 35.7 billion yuan in 2025 (up 11.4% year-on-year).
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As Spring Festival 2026 nears, Zhongshan supplies Australian New Year flowers (oranges, chrysanthemums) to Macau. Zhongshan Customs uses a green channel for fast clearance; Gongbei Customs has inspected 1.335 million plants since Jan 2026 to ensure fresh arrival.
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The EU China Chamber of Commerce expresses serious concern and firm opposition to the EU's frequent use of the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) to investigate Chinese companies, noting they are the main target, suffer billions of euros in losses, and calling for a fair EU business environment.
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The 2026 National Foreign Trade Work Conference was held in Beijing from Feb 2-3. Zhang Li gave a report. It reviewed 2025's foreign trade achievements (record scale, resilience) and emphasized 2026 work (15th Five Year Plan start, stabilize trade, integrate trade/investment). Relevant departments and associations attended.
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