By Xinyi Li, EDITOR

During President Xi Jinping's visit to Chongqing, he indicated that this city should strengthen the support for innovation, unswervingly promote the reform and opening-up, and strive to lead the way in opening up in the western region.

What specific measures has Chongqing taken to put the instructions of President Xi Jinping into practice?

Shan Wei, Director of Chongqing Customs District P.R.CHINA introduced that they would mainly make efforts in three aspects. First of all, they will comprehensively deepen the customs reform and help Chongqing play a supporting role in promoting the Western Development Strategy in the new era. In accordance with the 2020 Framework Plan for Comprehensively Deepening the Reform of the Customs Services, they are going to steadily carry out the two-stage access pilot program. They will also continue to focus on deepening the supply-side reform to support the quality development of Chongqing’s manufacturing sector, as well as accelerating the construction of Intelligent Customs and building the Single Window for international trade.

Meanwhile, they will vigorously promote the development of major channels, ports or hubs, as well as broad environment to help Chongqing play a leading role in promoting the co-construction of the Belt and Road Initiative. They aim to accelerate the implementation of the customs clearance cooperation mechanism among Chongqing, Guangxi, Guizhou, Gansu, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Yunnan, Ningxia, and Sichuan. With the support of the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China, they are going to actively promote China-Singapore and China-Poland inter-customs cooperation and apply the Customs-Railway Clearance and other customs pilot policies to the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor (ILSTC). Following international advanced standards, they strive to explore the customs supervision mode of multimodal transport conforming to the logistics law and adapting to enterprise operations and guide the construction of the customs supervision workplace of Chongqing Multimodal Transport Center. In addition, they aim to improve the business environment, continue improving efficiency and reducing costs, and provide more convenient customs clearance guarantees for key enterprises with high credit standing.

Moreover, they scheme to fully implement the overall national security outlook, take on more responsibility, and help Chongqing play an exemplary role in promoting the green development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

Wang Zhijie, Executive Deputy Director of Liangjiang New Area Administrative Committee said that Liangjiang New Area tries to take the lead in promoting a new pattern of the Western Development Strategy in Chongqing, and strives to show new achievements and make new breakthroughs from three aspects. It will stick to the main line of deepening supply-side structural reform, fully implement the policy of Consolidation, Augment, Promotion and An Impediment, and work hard to strive for changes while consolidating the tradition and embracing innovation. Meanwhile, it will also speed up the quality development of the manufacturing industry, extend the chain and strengthen the weak links while giving full play to the advantages of the manufacturing industry, and build the entire industrial chain of competitive industries. It aims to make the 2+2 pillar industrial clusters bigger and stronger, fully promote the stabilization and recovery of the automobile industry and better development of the electronic industry, and accelerate the development of the two new pillar industries of equipment and biological medicine. The acceleration of the development of modern service industry will help build the service industry into a new engine for quality development of Liangjiang New Area. Moreover, by seizing the important opportunities presented by the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, it plans to promote the vigorous development of new technologies, products, business forms, and models in a wider range of fields.

Additionally, it aims at accelerating the construction of China (Chongqing) Pilot Free Trade Zone (CFTZ) and the core zone of China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity (CCI), and paying attention to the construction of bonded port areas, bonded commodity exhibition and trading centers and other open ports and windows. It will also attach importance to the construction, management, and operation of the Guoyuan Port, build Chongqing Yuelai International Convention Center, Jiangbeizui Financial Center and other functional open platforms at a high level.

Furthermore, it will focus on the Big Data Intelligence innovation to make innovation a powerful driving force for quality development soon. It will focus on the R&D innovation while building a cluster by supplementing industrial chains, accelerate the construction of Digital Economy Industrial Park, Lijia Smart Eco-City, and Liangjiang Collaborative Innovation Zone in Liangjiang New Area, and promote the settlement of universities and scientific research institutions, thus providing a strong force for innovation-driven development.

Han Baochang, Director of China–Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity Administrative Bureau, said: “In recent years, we have been relying on the three-level cooperative mechanism of the CCI to enhance regional and international cooperation. We have established the 1+3+1 Cooperation Mechanism for Wide Consultation, Joint Contribution and Shared Benefits at governments, industrial agencies and enterprises in 9 provinces, prefectures and cities of Western China. Three kinds of logistics, including rail-sea intermodal transport, cross-border road transport, and international railway transport, all successfully linked the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21^st Century Maritime Silk Road in inland China, which have brought rich fruits.”

Next, the Administration Bureau will focus on four fields:

First of all, continue to improve the domestic cooperative mechanism, and play a leading role in Western China. On one hand, we will avail ourselves of the ILSTC cooperative mechanism among 9 provinces, prefectures and cities and lead the preparation for ILSTC Interprovincial Joint Meeting this year, so as to clarify goals of 2019 and confirm the 9 members’ tasks. With such efforts, we can pool our strengths for development. On the other hand, we are going to exert Chongqing’s role as the operation center, intensifying communication with other sister provinces and prefectures in Western China.  The Administration Bureau plans to involve the entire west area into the ILSTC cooperative mechanism.

Additionally, the Bureau will explore ways to establish an international cooperative mechanism and invite more foreign countries to join the course. Given that China and Singapore have inked the MOU to co-build the ILSTC in November 2018, we will figure out ways to build international cooperative mechanism with other ASEAN countries.

Besides these things, the Bureau must promote the construction of a comprehensive operation platform and continue to lower logistics costs. The Administration Bureau is expected to make full use of advantageous resources from different players, actively communicate with provinces and cities in Western China as well as ASEAN countries like Singapore, in an effort to jointly create a comprehensive operation platform. It is going to develop businesses like channel logistics, investment and construction, international trade, information integration, and logistics finance, aiming to continuously improve channels’ overall service capability, lower operation costs and grow efficiency.

Furthermore, the Bureua will constantly create new spaces for international cooperation based on ILSTC construction. The Administration Bureau will actively contact ASEAN countries and find proper fields for cooperation while encouraging enterprises of Chongqing to set up logistics bases, distribution centers, and overseas warehouses in such countries to perfect international supply-chain system.

Source: Chongqing Daily News