BEIJING, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Growth rate of China's foreign trade with countries along the Belt and Road routes in 2013 to 2017 was 1.4 percentage points higher than that of its foreign trade on the whole during the same period, according to the General Administration of Customs on Tuesday.
In the first seven months of this year, the growth rate of its foreign trade with countries along the routes was 2.7 percentage points higher than the overall foreign trade growth.
In order to promote trade with countries along the routes, the Chinese Customs has continuously strengthened supervision and optimized services to facilitate the trade flows. From January to June this year, China-Europe freight trains made 4,475 trips, up 59 percent year on year. So far, China-Europe freight trains have made more than 9,000 trips, with the launch of over 60 lines covering majority of the provinces and cities, said official of the Customs.
Up to now, China has reached the mutual recognition arrangement concerning the authorized economic operator (AEO) with 35 countries and regions.
When the Chinese AEO enterprises export goods to the countries and regions approving the mutual recognition, the customs clearance time and customs clearance costs will be reduced by more than 50 percent.
At the end of June 2018, among the 33 countries with the AEO system along the Belt and Road routes, China has achieved mutual recognition with 14 countries. It is stepping up negotiations about the mutual recognition or discussing the mutual recognition cooperation intentions with the remaining 19 countries.
According to the Customs, China will strive to realize the AEO mutual recognition with customs authorities of all countries already establishing the AEO system and having the cooperation willingness along the routes before 2020. (Edited by Hu Pingchao, hupingchao@xinhua.org)
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