Online Interview
Topic: Crackdown on Smuggling – about Customs Anti-Smuggling Stories of 2013
Time:03:00 PM (Wed) March 12, 2014
Special Guests:Chen Jianxin, Deputy Director General of the Anti-Smuggling Bureau, the GACC
Online Interview Photos
Crackdown on Smuggling – about Customs Anti-Smuggling Stories of 2013
[Wang Hua]: Smuggling activity in non-Customs checkpoints is also one of the focuses of the joint campaign against smuggling. So how about the smuggling activities in non-customs checkpoints? 03/12/2014 15:34:30
[Chen Jianxin]: As a matter of fact, after continuous powerful strikes and actions, the smugglings through non-customs checkpoints along the Sino-Vietnamese border in Guangxi, in particular alongside the Beilun River, are on the decline as a whole. If you go there, you will find there are obviously less vans used for transporting smuggled goods alongside the Beilun River and in Dongxing City. 03/12/2014 15:34:54
[Chen Jianxin]: Once we block the “side door” of smuggling, the normal trading activities, namely the “front door”, benefit significantly. In 2013, the value of imported and exported goods through frontier trade in Guangxi was RMB 20.16 billion, which was twice the amount of last year. It shows that the strikes and actions against smuggling activities in non-customs checkpoints have effectively facilitated the healthy development of trade and economy in border areas. 03/12/2014 15:35:53
[Wang Hua]: Mr. Chen, I remember that earlier this year GACC, together with the State Forestry Administration, held the “Activity of Destroying Legally Seized Ivories” in Guangdong. And were the ivories seized during the joint campaign included? 03/12/2014 15:36:18
[Chen Jianxin]: Yes, 6.1 tons of ivories were destroyed in that activity. During the joint campaign, approximately 50 tons of endangered species and their products, such as ivories, sandalwood and rosewood, were seized. And the largest one was the case of smuggling hidden ivories into China through freight channel, which was detected by Huangpu Customs in July 2013. In the case, Customs officers seized ivories, rhinoceros horns, etc. weighted 4.47 tons on-site. 03/12/2014 15:36:47
[Chen Jianxin]: If we include the ivories seized by the Customs of Hong Kong SAR under the guide of Huangpu Customs afterwards, the seized smuggled ivories in this case were over 3,000 pieces in total, weighting nearly 6.7 tons. According to the estimation standards for the value of smuggled goods announced by the State Forestry Administration, this batch of goods was worth RMB hundreds of millions. 03/12/2014 15:37:23
[Chen Jianxin]: The confiscation of these smuggled goods caused far-reaching influence in the international community. Media at home and abroad made coverage on this case. China announced to the world with its actions that we absolutely don’t tolerate any illegal activities of smuggling wild animals and plants. 03/12/2014 15:37:41
[Wang Hua]: Apart from endangered species, what about the administration of smugglings of some special goods, such as drugs, weapons and ammunitions? 03/12/2014 15:38:05
[Chen Jianxin]: The smugglings of drugs, weapons and ammunitions directly affect national security and social stability, so they have always been the focus of customs campaigns. During the joint campaign, the Customs have cracked 294 cases of illegal smuggling of drugs in total, and seized 1.1 tons of various kinds of drugs. And there were 20 cases involving illegal smugglings of weapons and ammunitions, with 2,357 guns, 762 components of guns and 7,320 bullets seized. 03/12/2014 15:38:44
[Wang Hua]: To my knowledge, for strengthening efforts in the crackdown, Guangzhou Customs carried out the special campaign against drug smuggling named “Thunderbolt”. 03/12/2014 15:39:20