By Xu Zhuowei

　　"After the company resumed production, we managed to obtain the Certificates of Origin for 18 shipments of exported goods just in time, which are expected to bring us a tax discount of ?200,000." On July 11, Mr. Hu, a sales representative of the international business department of Ningbo Zhongyuan Oujia Fishing Tackle Co., Ltd., showed the correspondent the RCEP Certificates of Origin issued by the Hangzhou Bay New Zone Customs, which is part of Ningbo Customs. He explained that with the RCEP Certificate of Origin, the brass tapes that his company exported to Japan could get nearly ?10,000 of tariff concessions from Japan's customs.

　　On January 1, 2022, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) came into effect in China. In the past six months, the number of RCEP member states has continued to grow. As of now, RCEP has come into effect in 13 of the 15 signatory states. For Ningbo's exporters, this means saving "hard cash" on export tariffs .

　　Data shows that in the first half of this year, Ningbo Customs handled ?4.4 billion of goods that were either issued the RCEP Certificate of Origin or claimed preferential import tariff rates. An accumulated ?14.16 million of tariffs were reduced for imported products. Chinese goods bound for export are expected to enjoy a tariff reduction of ?34.17 million.

　　Ningbo Zhonglin Foreign Trade Co., Ltd. is engaged in the import and export of primary plastic products. Its business partners are mostly in Southeast Asia. "Due to the pandemic and changes in the import and export policies of various countries at the start of this year, our company's business was negatively impacted. However, RCEP has allowed our company to get a 6.5% tariff reduction for raw materials, which applied to over ?10 million yuan of our imports in the first half of this year," said a company representative excitedly.

　　Ningbo Customs has established an "RCEP inquiries center", published guides to explain RCEP polices, and held several seminars to let more companies find out about the benefits that RCEP could bring. "One-on-one" guidance is also available for companies that require additional assistance.

　　Chief Adviser: Zhao Qingchuan

　　Proofreader: Xu Zhuowei