Customs clearance for Chinese exports greatly shortened over past 5 years: MOC

(ECNS) -- Customs clearance times have been shortened greatly from 2017 to 2022, an official at China's Commerce Ministry said on Thursday.

It used to take 12 hours for China's exported goods to go through the customs clearance procedure in 2017, but now it only takes 1.2 hours, said Wang Shouwen, Chinese vice minister of commerce, at a press conference on "China in the past decade."

For imported goods, it used to take four days in 2017, but now it has been reduced to less than a day and a half.

The number of Free Trade Agreements China signed has doubled over the past decade.

Nine free trade agreements were signed with Switzerland, South Korea, Australia, and other countries, said Wang.

China has seen broader market access and more opening up in the fields of service trade and investment.

China promised to open up 100 sectors when it joined the WTO in 2001. In the recent Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, China added another 22 sectors for opening up.

The country has introduced a negative list approach and made a commitment to higher-level opening up in manufacturing, agriculture, mining, and more.