China has released a guideline as to how cross-border e-commerce can have a further boost. (Photo : Reuters)
As part of its vow to further boost e-commerce in the country, China through the State Council has released a guideline on Saturday. The guideline strengthens the government's measures regarding e-commerce exports and imports.
The guideline aims to streamline the customs procedures for the said goods, making the involved processes simpler and more efficient.
Meanwhile, supervising officials are also allowed to collectively declare, examine and release the products.
The government intends to increase domestic consumption, promote fair competition, and advance import tax management by keeping export taxes low while crafting import tax policies that will meet such goals.
According to recently released guidelines, domestic banks and financial institutions are also encouraged to establish cross-border electronic payment platforms and unveil payment methods accepting foreign currencies.
Also, firms in the e-commerce industry will be aided with financial support on global ventures. Credit insurance services will also be available.
The government's move to further strengthen its cross-border e-commerce comes as the country has been experiencing the slowest economic growth pace in three decades. It aims to address this concern by shifting its growth dependence from the manufacturing to other higher-value services.
While the government is open to foreign-local e-commerce cooperation, it would also work to advance public and private e-commerce avenues and support "companies that provide comprehensive international trade services," the State Council remarked.
The move is also in line with the government's other endeavors, which include the utilization of Internet in foreign relations, boosting of entrepreneurship and innovation, and the unveiling of the Belt and Road initiative.
The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) remarked earlier this week that the trade volume of the country's cross-border e-commerce has reached a $3.32-billion mark since 2013, when it piloted cross-border foreign exchange transactions.
Senior SAFE official Du Peng also said that the particular e-commerce sector continues to boom, with its volume for this year's first five months almost tallying to the same volume of the whole 2014.
Du pointed out that the rise in the cross-border e-commerce sector can be attributed to the measures introduced by the government, such as the change of online single transaction limit from $10,000 to $50,000.
