On May 17, Vice Minister Sun Yibiao of the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) met with Mr. Giovanni Kessler, Director General of the European Anti-fraud Office (OLAF) in Beijing. Both sides spoke highly of the achievements made in law enforcement cooperation between China and EU Customs and reviewed the progress in implementing the Strategic Administrative Cooperation Arrangement between GACC and OLAF on Cooperation in Combating Customs Fraud signed in 2005.

Vice Minister Sun put forward three proposals on further enhancing bilateral enforcement cooperation. Firstly, the two sides should jointly facilitate the signature of a bilateral cooperation agreement aimed at cracking down on the smuggling via a third party. Secondly, both sides should further improve contact channels for better mutual administrative assistance and better quality of information on the basis of equality and mutual benefit. Thirdly, the two sides should establish a multilateral cooperation mechanism through incorporating some key countries and regions, such as Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong SAR, into the law enforcement framework of China-EU Customs cooperation, so as to keep security and facilitation for bilateral trade.