First TIR transports in China advance Belt and Road prospects

A ceremony in Dalian, Liaoning province on Friday marked the opening of China's borders for Transports Internationaux Routiers, the customs convention on the international transportation of goods. Offering time savings in China of up to 80 percent, the global customs transit standard connects 73 countries across the world and is a cornerstone of the Belt and Road Initiative to boost economic and trade development. Six gateways – Dalian, Erenhot and Manzhouli in Inner Mongolia autonomous region, Horgos and Irkeshtam in Xinjiang autonomous region, and Suifenhe Port in Heilongjiang province – started TIR operations on May 18, enhancing interconnectivity between countries across the region. Umberto de Pretto, secretary-general of International Road Transport Union, the organization that manages TIR with United Nations’ authorization, said that TIR would transform China’s links with its neighbors, bringing benefits across the region and facilitating the goals of the Belt and Road Initiative. He said the start of TIR operations sends a strong signal to the world that China is opening up its markets and connecting more efficiently across its borders. As the only global customs transit system for moving goods across international borders, TIR has been supporting trade and development for more than 60 years, by allowing customs-sealed vehicles and freight containers to transit countries with minimal border checks. With the potential to increase the total trade volume between China and other major countries along the Belt and Road route by up to $13.6 billion – representing 1.4 percent of China’s total volume of trade exports – the activation of TIR will see Chinese goods going global with greater efficiency, while foreign imports will enjoy faster and safer transit. Zhang Jianping, director of Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation at Ministry of Commerce, said connectivity was an important element of the Belt and Road Initiative, directly determining the smooth flow of goods. TIR’s arrival in China would largely increase the level of trade facilitation within the area related to the initiative, reduce transaction costs and increase the efficiency of trade and investment. Xu Chen, a professor at University of International Business and Economics, said the further implementation and development of the TIR system in China must first be linked with the reform of customs clearance and integrated with the system of customs clearance integration throughout the country to avoid breaks in data. “The long-term development of TIR systems in China requires national support and the cooperation of various countries to solve the problems limiting the convenience of international road transportation,” he added. The Dalian ceremony also marked the opening of the first road caravan route for the 5,600 kilometer journey from Dalian to Novosibirsk in Russia. TIR is expected to play a pivotal role along the new route by expediting customs clearance and efficiency. China ratified the UN TIR Convention in July 2016, becoming the 70th contracting party. So far, there are 73 contracting parties across the globe.

China-Russia trade to keep rapid expansion this year: MOC

Bilateral trade between China and Russia is expected to maintain double-digit growth this year, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said.Total trade is likely to exceed $100 billion in 2018, MOC spokesperson Gao Feng told a press conference.In the first four months, China-Russia trade jumped by nearly 30 percent year-on-year to $31.2 billion, official data showed."The fast expansion was partly due to rising demand from Russia as the economy stabilizes," Gao said. "In addition, both the volume and price of commodities that China imported from Russia have increased."New growth points have emerged. For example, Russia's exports of agricultural products to China jumped 35.3 percent in the first quarter compared with last year.China's rising investments in Russia as well as bilateral cooperation in fields including energy and aerospace also contributed to the trade expansion, according to Gao."The two countries will take measures to optimize trade structure and cultivate new drivers for trade growth, so that the momentum can be maintained," Gao said.

Chinese Premier Li's speech at China-Indonesia business summit

Li Keqiang，Chinese Premier, attended the China-Indonesia Business Summit in Jakarta on the evening of May 7th, and delivered a keynote speech. In the speech, Li Keqiang made a series of explanations on future business cooperation between China and Indonesia. Both China and Indonesia will promote the facilitation of trade and investment liberalization. Both sides support economic globalization, advocate free trade, and maintain a rules-based multilateral trading system, and advocate the settlement of trade disputes through equal consultations. China is willing to import more Indonesian competitive specialty products. The two sides agreed to increase the level of trade facilitation, and will vigorously develop cross-border e-commerce and build the cooperation bridge for SMEs between the two countries. China will support Chinese companies in participating in the development of Indonesia's regional comprehensive economic corridors, encourage Chinese enterprises to support Indonesia's infrastructure improvement and explore cooperation in ports, maritime economy, industrial processing and overseas warehouses, Li said, adding that Indonesia is also welcome to open an investment promotion center in China. In addition, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang also talked briefly about the Chinese economy. In the past five years, China's economy kept a medium-high growth rate of 7.1 percent annually on average. In 2017, China's GDP reached 82 trillion RMB yuan. The share of the services sector in total GDP rose to 51.6 percent, indicating an improved economic structure. The Chinese economy has contributed over 30 percent to global growth on an average annual basis. In the first quarter of this year, GDP grew by 6.8 percent year-on-year, and an average of 15,000 new businesses were registered every day. Major international economic organizations recently made another upward revision of China's growth forecasts in 2018. As the economy continues to grow, living standards have improved significantly. Looking forward, China will make even greater efforts to see the reform through. And China have drawn up an overarching plan on comprehensively deepening reform. One priority is to foster a world-class business environment. China will transform government functions at a faster pace, reduce government-imposed transaction cost, and work to unlock market vitality and public creativity. At the same time, China will pursue greater opening-up in both goods and services. And will implement more proactive import policies and lower import tariffs on automobiles, certain drugs and everyday consumer goods. China will strengthen IPR protection, and render the same treatment and foster a level playing field for Chinese and foreign enterprises alike. China welcomes foreign investment in China and encourage well-established Chinese businesses to invest overseas for win-win outcomes. Source： www.gov.cn

Tanikawa successfully completed 128 projects in the first quarter of 2018

In the first quarter of 2018, Tanikawa successfully completed 128 projects， and provided excellent services for many cooperative companies. 1. Zhongliang Real Estate starts business operation in Jingbin Industrial Park As a diversified and comprehensive group company, Zhongliang Real Estate ranked among the top 30 in comprehensive power rankings in 2017, ranking 10th in both its operating ability and growth. The project is a group tax management project for senior executives of the Group. Currently, it only involves the Zhejiang Province, Guangdong Province, Wenzhou and Taiwan regions. It is estimated that it can realize an annual tax payment of 20 million yuan after it is officially put into operation. After learning that the company wants to expand the partnership business, Tanikawa professional investment consultants fully tap the company's demands, and while the communicated the regional policies that be focused by the Zhong Liang Real Estate, they also infiltrated the policy advantages of Jingbin Industrial Park, and promoted the company to inspect the Park and coordinated the details of the company's registration. Finally, they signed cooperation agreement. 2. Pan Tao Environment Co. Led. starts business operation in Jing-Jin Technology Valley As an innovative and environmentally-friendly high-tech enterprise, Pan Tao's business covers five major segments: clean heating, exhaust gas treatment, water treatment, environmental remediation and environmental consulting. After knowing that the company had a demand for land, Tanikawa communicated the business requirements with the company, but it has not made any progress. Afterwards, Tanikawa professional investment consultants changed their thinking. On the one hand, Tanikawa carried out business research and feedback to the Valley. Pan Tao obtained the highly recognized by the Valley. On the other hand, Tanikawa deepened the communication with the company, clarified their investment plan, and took advantage of the land index of the Valley. Tanikawa promoted mutual visits and inspections, built up trust, and penetrated the successful cases of homogeneous companies entering the park. Eventually, under the joint efforts of Tanikawa and Jing-Jin Technology Valley, the two parties signed cooperation. The cooperation between Tanikawa and Jing-Jin Technology Valley has a long history. Over the years, in order to transformation and upgrading, innovation and development for the Park, Tanikawa has delivered a large number of quality projects to the Valley, and these project has received favorable reception by the leaders of the Valley. In the future, Tanikawa will try the best effort, to help more enterprises to realize their new ambition.

The Top 10 Business Cities in China

China's economy achieved 6.9 percent annual growth in 2017, with its Gross Domestic Product totaling 82.7 trillion yuan. Shanghai became the first Chinese city to have a GDP of over 3 trillion yuan in 2017, according to data released by the local government. Here are the 10 cities with the best performance in terms of GDP in 2017. No 10.  Hangzhou of Zhejiang province, with a GDP of 1.13 trillion yuan Hangzhou is the capital city of Zhejiang province. Hangzhou is the important politics, economy, science and education, transport, media, communication and finance center. And it is the center city of Hangzhou metropolitan economic circle. No 9.  Wuhan of Hubei province, with a GDP of 1.34 trillion yuan Wuhan is a major city in central China, and a major industrial, science and education base of the country, as well as an integrated transport hub. Wuhan is one of the most competitive forces for domestic trade in China, rivaling the first tier cities of Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou in its volume of retail. It is also among the top list of China's metropolises. No 8.  Chengdu of Sichuan province, with a GDP of 1.39 trillion yuan Chengdu has designated by China's State Council as the country's western center of logistics, finance, commerce, science and technology, as well as a hub of transportation and communication. It is also an important base for manufacturing and agriculture. No 7.  Suzhou of Jiangsu province, with a GDP of 1.73 trillion yuan Suzhou is famous for its silk and China traditional garden. Besides, since it is located nearby Shanghai with convenient transportation. Suzhou's economy is primarily based on its large manufacturing sector-China's second largest-including iron and steel, IT and electronic equipment, and textile products. The city's service sector is notably well-developed, primarily owing to tourism, which made a great contribution to revenue. No 6.  Tianjin, with a GDP of 1.86 trillion yuan Tianjin is one of the most economically developed cities in China. In 1860, Tianjin was forced to open and became a trade port. Tianjin became one of the earliest opened port city in China. So far, Tianjin is the second largest industrial and commercial city in China, and the largest trade port in the north. No 5.  Chongqing, with a GDP of 1.95 trillion yuan Chongqing is located in the southwest of China, Chongqing is one of old industrial bases in China. It is a modern port city on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River at the confluence of the Yangtze culture.  No 4.  Guangzhou of Guangdong province, with a GDP of 2.15 trillion yuan Guangzhou is the capital city of Guangdong province, a central city of China, famous port city in the world, and it is also an important finance, commerce, trade, transportation, exhibition, and shipping center. No 3.  Shenzhen of Guangdong province, with a GDP of 2.2 trillion yuan Shenzhen is the first special economic zone after reform and opening-up in China, it is the symbol of China’s Reform and Opening-up and a essential city for foreign trade. And Shenzhen is the important marine and air hub and foreign trade port in the world, important finical and economic center of China. Now, it has becoming a influence international city. No 2.  Beijing, with a GDP of 2.8 trillion yuan Beijing is the capital city of China, and center city of China. It is politic, cultural, scientific and educational center; it is famous ancient city and modern city in the world. Beijing is the location of central people’s government. No 1.  Shanghai with GDP of 3.01 trillion yuan Shanghai is economy, transport, science and technique, finance, trade, exhibition and shipping center in China. GDP of Shanghai is in the top of China. And it is a well-known international port. And now Shanghai is preparing to develop international finance, trade and shipping center of the world in 2020. Source: China Daily

China cuts tax rates for chipmakers

China announced plans to introduce tax exemptions and reductions for chip producers. Businesses established after Jan 1 to manufacture integrated circuits with lines thinner than 130 nanometers will be exempted from the income tax for the first two years, according to a statement from the Ministry of Finance. The tax rates will be 12.5 percent from the third year, half of the statutory level. The exemption period will be five years if the IC lines are thinner than 65 nm or the investment totaled more than 15 billion yuan ($2.39 billion). Businesses established before 2018 producing 0.25- and 0.8-micron chips can also enjoy similar favorable policies after they make profits, according to the statement. The tax breaks came as the country's latest effort to stimulate the manufacturing of high-performance ICs, which has been dubbed an emerging sector of strategic importance. A robust IC sector will facilitate technological and industrial revolutions and help foster new economic growth engines, analysts said. The sector maintained a 20-percent annual growth rate during the past five years. Miao Wei, minister of industry and information technology, has said China will provide more opportunities for foreign companies to invest in IC and other manufacturing sectors.