A container ship leaves Xiamen Port in Fujian province. [Photo/Xiamen Daily]
Xiamen customs issued 1,013 RCEP certificates of origin for commodities worth 498 million yuan ($78.53 million) in January, which was expected to help eliminate tariffs by more than 5 million yuan for local export companies.
Customs officials noted that since the RCEP agreement took effect on Jan 1, the city's foreign trade companies have been paying more attention to it because it has provided immediate benefits to them.
"My company mainly exported cosmetics to Europe and the Americas. Since the RCEP agreement came into force, we started to explore the Japanese market," according to an executive of a local daily chemical company surnamed Guo.
Xiamen customs has been pushing relevant preferential policies among local industries to drive forward the expansion of beneficial product exports such as garments, mechatronics, and agricultural goods, in order to allow more companies to profit from the RCEP's benefits.
China has decided to extend its visa waiver policy to ordinary passport holders from Canada and the United Kingdom starting from Feb 17.
Forty-one new port-of-entry duty-free shops have been established nationwide, with Xiamen Xiang'an International Airport, Xiamen Wutong Passenger Wharf, and Xiamen International Cruise Center included on the list.
