Online Interview
Topic: Jinan Customs District - P. R. China’s Youngest Customs District
Time:10:30 AM (Fri) May 09, 2014
Special Guests:Liu Weiwei, Party Leadership Group Secretary and Director General of Jinan Customs District
Online Interview Photos
Jinan Customs District - P. R. China’s Youngest Customs District
[Wang Hua]: Hello, netizens, welcome to China Customs Online Interview! I’m Wang Hua. Founded on December 13, 2012, Jinan Customs District became the 42nd and the youngest Customs District directly under the GACC. On January 1, 2014, Jinan Customs District has successfully completed the business handover and started independent operation. Why was Jinan Customs District upgraded? And what are the changes in Customs supervision and services in Jinan Customs District after the upgrading? Today, we are joined by Ms. Liu Weiwei, Director General of Jinan Customs District, to talk about Jinan Customs District, answer our questions and hear our opinions and suggestions. 05/09/2014 10:30:10
[Liu Weiwei]: Hello, I’m glad to have this opportunity to talk to you. 05/09/2014 10:30:58
[Wang Hua]: Ms. Liu, we know that Jinan Customs was originally subordinated to the Qingdao Customs District which is directly under GACC. So why did the State upgrade Jinan Customs although there was an existing district directly under GACC in Shandong Province? 05/09/2014 10:31:20
[Liu Weiwei]: The state upgraded Jinan Customs to a customs district directly under GACC, and has it and the Qingdao Customs District to jointly serve the development of Shandong’s open economy. This is based on a comprehensive consideration of factors such as political influence and economic development. The major backdrops are as follows. 05/09/2014 10:32:04
[Liu Weiwei]: First, it’s closely related to the national development strategy. Since the national strategies on the Blue Economic Zone of the Shandong Peninsula and the Efficient Ecological Economic Zone of the Yellow River Delta were implemented in an all-round way, Shandong Province has seen an increasingly robust growth in its open economy, and that results in an urgent demand for optimizing customs supervision and services. So to change Jinan Customs to a department-level customs district directly under GACC will help advance the implementation of national strategies. It is a major decision made by the State from the perspective of overall economic and social development of Shandong. 05/09/2014 10:32:43
[Liu Weiwei]: Second, this is a key move in compliance with Shandong Provincial Government’s “one rim and one belt” construction layout. The new Jinan Customs District covers “one rim and one belt”, namely, the urban agglomeration economic rim centering Jinan City and the outstanding economic belt of western Shandong. Through optimizing the layout of Customs districts, Shandong Provincial Government wants to extend the focus of customs efforts into the inland area, to provide support and services for the development of foreign trade of inland enterprises in Shandong Province in a more direct and comprehensive manner, increase the growth in open economy of central and western Shandong, and make those areas paradise for business startups and innovations”. 05/09/2014 10:33:10
[Liu Weiwei]: In addition, in terms of the customs management system, a vertical leadership system at three levels including GACC, the customs district directly under GACC, and the local subordinate customs house is implemented. In general, there is a customs district directly under GACC in every provincial capital, even more in some relatively developed provinces. For example, there are 7 customs districts directly under GACC in Guangdong Province. Shandong is a big economic province and a door opened to the outside in China, Its economic aggregate ranked third in China last year. Moreover, Shandong Province is the only province in whose capital there is not a customs district directly under GACC established. This does not match the level of its economic development and openness. 05/09/2014 10:34:27
[Wang Hua]: What are the places under jurisdiction of the Jinan Customs District? 05/09/2014 10:34:56
[Liu Weiwei]: The original Jinan Customs House was only responsible for customs business in Jinan City. After upgrading, the Jinan Customs District is responsible for customs business in 9 cities in the eastern, central and western parts of Shandong Province, including Jinan, Tai’an, Laiwu, Zibo, Weifang, Dezhou, Binzhou, Liaocheng and Dongying. This is the map of Jinan Customs District. 05/09/2014 10:35:39
[Wang Hua]: Ms. Liu, since Jinan Customs District has been in operation for more than one year, how about its business? 05/09/2014 10:36:29