According to statistics from the Customs, the total import and export volume of Beijing (including central Party committee and state controlled entities in Beijing) in the first two months of 2022 reached 523.88 billion yuan, up by 21.7% year-on-year, and 8.4 percentage points higher than the national growth rate in the same period. The import volume rose by 27.8% to 447.05 billion yuan, 14.9 percentage points higher than the national level in the same period.

As Beijing is being built into a center for scientific and technological innovation, the amplifying effect of the "five key projects" for development has taken shape, together with substantial development of high-end, precision and sophisticated industries, in particular the new-generation information technology and medicine and health care, which have become "double engines" for industrial upgrades.

During the first two months, Beijing saw a surge in the export of the new-generation information technology products including computers and integrated circuits. The export of central processing units (CPUs) and components (memories) reached 1.59 billion yuan, up by 13.7 times; 256,000 tablets were exported, increased 324.8 times and, totaled 200 million yuan, up by 134.3 times; the export of integrated circuits rose by 42 percent to 3.66 billion yuan.

Over the same period, the foreign trade of medicine and health care industry in Beijing has witnessed a robust growth, with the import of products related to biotechnology, life science and medical instruments and devices reaching 3.23 billion yuan, 11.79 billion yuan and 3.08 billion yuan, an increase of 57.9%, 25.2% and 28.1% respectively.

From January to February, the import and export volume between Beijing and BRI participating countries increased by 26.5% to 281.65 billion yuan, 4.8 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate of Beijing's foreign trade in the same period last year, accounting for 53.8% of Beijing's total volume of import and export.

It is worth noting that the trade volume between Beijing and RCEP countries in the first two months hit 105.08 billion yuan, an increase of 10.2%, accounting for 20.1% of Beijing's total. It is learned that since the world's largest free trade agreement entered into force two months ago, enterprises in Beijing have gained tangible benefits, as export enterprises received tariff reduction of approximately 2 million yuan in destination countries, and import enterprises have filed for preferential policies for goods worth up to 4.62 million yuan and saved 297,100 yuan from tariff reduction. 

The implementation of favorable policies will not be possible without convenient services. Wang Wei, deputy head of the duty collection department with the Beijing Customs District, said so far, Beijing Customs has issued 356 RCEP certificates of origin for export to 63 enterprises. It has worked with Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau, Beijing Investment Promotion Service Center, Beijing Customs Brokers Association and other units, publicizing the policies for 1,400 enterprises from different perspectives.

(Reporter: Yuan Lu)