China to Build Export Processing ZonesAs informed from the meeting of experimental work on processing zone for export held in Weihai city of Shandong province, China will carry out experimental work on the export processing zone construction by turning separate businesses to a close and concentrated management.It is a significant reform in China's supervisory and managerial system of processing trade, marking the integration of the management with that of international practice. Approved by the state council, 15 export processing zones were determined to conduct this experimental work including: Dalian of Liaoning province, Tianjin, Beijing's Tianzhu, Yantai and Weihai of Shandong province, Kunshan and Suzhou Industrial Garden of Jiangsu province, Shanghai's Songjiang, Hangzhou of Zhejiang province, Xiamen's Xingling of Fujian province, Shenzhen and Guangzhou of Guangdong province, Wuhan of Hubei province, Chengdu of Sichuan province and Hunchun of Jilin province. Due to the encouraging policies adopted by the state since the reform and opening up, China's processing trade has been booming up. The total export and import value increased by 69.7 times from 1981 to 1998. The General Customs Administration statistic shows that the processing trade from January to May accounts for 48.8% of the total volume in foreign trade. The processing trade has involved most of industries in China and played a positive role in using foreign capital, absorbing advanced technology and scientific management as well as solving labor employment. The meeting is convened under the co-sponsorship of the eight ministries and administrations as the General Customs Administration, National Economic and Trade Commission and State Tax Administration. Discussed at the meeting as approved by the state council are the matching measures for the experimental work the taxation, foreign exchange control and the supervisory model on export processing zone by customs. |
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