Xiamen takes measures to boost foreign trade

In light of the challenges brought by the COVID-19 epidemic, the government of Xiamen, East China's Fujian province recently introduced a series of measures to boost the development of the local foreign trade enterprises.

The measures state that government departments involved in foreign trade and capital must fulfill their responsibilities and strengthen cooperation with one another in a timely manner to solve problems related to the development of foreign trade and business operations.

The Xiamen branches of China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China will set aside 1 billion yuan ($153.6 million) worth of credit loans for small- and micro-sized enterprises. The loan will be issued by commercial banks.

The government will strive for more preferential credit loans from the Xiamen branch of the Export-Import Bank of China. No less than 15 billion yuan worth of loans will be issued to the foreign trade industry over the year.

For SMEs whose annual export volumes are less than $3 million, the premium rate of export blanket insurance will be reduced by at least 10 percent, with the premium covered by the municipal government. Construction of the Huli imports demonstration zone will be promoted and key import platforms will be built. Local companies are encouraged to take part in the China International Import Expo. The cost of sideline activities and promotions on behalf of the Xiamen trading group during the expo will be covered by the municipal government.

Local companies are encouraged to build their own brands and promote themselves on the city's foreign trade website AMOY BRAND.

The government will strengthen assistance and training for companies to be whitelisted for medical supplies exports, improve the verification efficiency at the municipal level and offer timely solutions to problems related to export.

Chartered flights are encouraged to attract more cross-border e-commerce commodities to gather in Xiamen, hence reducing logistical costs and building the city into a logistics hub for cross-border e-commerce.

The city will also push forward the construction of a regulation center for cross-border e-commerce at the airport, encourage the use of warehouses in Kaohsiung and Kinmen in Taiwan and facilitate cross-Straits express delivery through shipping.

Xiamen will offer a maximum of 2 million yuan in subsidies for local companies to build and operate overseas warehouses. A maximum of 300,000 yuan will be given to those who use overseas warehouses for export.The city will boost the development of the national-level base for foreign trade transformation and upgrading by offering subsidies to the base's management institutions for conducting industrial surveys, promotions, statistics collections and information delivery.

Xiamen will also offer subsidies to local foreign trade companies that take part in overseas exhibitions. These companies are eligible to receive 10,000 yuan in subsidies if the offline exhibition is held online instead.

Local foreign trade companies are encouraged to use cross-border e-commerce platforms to expand in overseas markets. These companies will receive a fixed subsidy of 12,000 yuan for each platform they are on.

Local foreign trade companies are also encouraged to take part in officially-recognized large-scale fairs featuring export goods for domestic sales. The local government will offer subsidies for exhibition stand charges in accordance with subsidy standards for attending overseas exhibitions.

Foreign trade companies will be exempted from charges generated during customs examination if there are no problems with their import and export goods that are transported in shipping containers.

Transportation subsidies for customs examinations at Haicang district will be extended to the end of 2021. The cost will be covered by the municipal and district governments. Commerce chambers and industrial associations involved in foreign trade are encouraged to set up work teams for fair trading, which can offer risk warnings and legal services to companies in the face of trade frictions and barriers.

The measures took effect on Jan 1, 2021 and will last till Dec 31, 2021.