The papermaking and paper products industry is a traditional pillar industry in Jiangmen City. Currently, there are domestic and foreign listed papermaking enterprises such as Weida Paper, Asia Pacific Senbo Paper, Zhongshun Paper, Huatai Paper, and Xinghui Paper, forming a large-scale industrial cluster. Since February this year, due to factors such as shortage of raw materials and low resumption rate of industry work, the export business of some paper companies has been hindered. In response to this situation, Jiangmen Customs has taken multiple measures and implemented comprehensive measures to help paper-making enterprises in its jurisdiction export onto the "fast lane". According to statistics, in the first three quarters, Jiangmen Pass exported 186000 tons of paper products with a value of 1.68 billion yuan.

"Paper Gold" Helps Paper Enterprises

Developing the ASEAN market

Production lines operate efficiently, piles of neatly stacked products are ready to be shipped, and workers wear masks and gloves, busy and nervous in an orderly manner... Walking into the production workshop of Vida Paper (China) Co., Ltd., one can see such a bustling production scene.

The company is a leading enterprise in the production of household paper in Jiangmen, mainly exporting tissues, boxed tissue paper, kitchen paper, toilet paper, and wet tissue paper. Affected by the COVID-19, toilet paper has become a "just needed product". The company has accelerated the pace of expanding overseas markets, especially the ASEAN market.

"With the help of the 'paper gold' issued by the customs, our company's overseas market share continues to increase, especially the order volume from the ASEAN market is growing rapidly." Li Yudian of Vida Paper (China) Co., Ltd. said that since the beginning of this year, the company's export value to ASEAN has increased to over 10% of its total export value in the overseas market, occupying an important position in its overseas market territory.

The "paper gold" mentioned by Li Yudian refers to the customs certificate of origin, which is equivalent to the "ID card" in the field of commodity circulation. Especially for goods with preferential certificates of origin, they can also enjoy specific tariff reductions and exemptions, which is of great significance for enterprises to explore international markets.

The work team established by Xinhui Customs, a subsidiary of Jiangmen Customs, has visited foreign trade enterprises in its jurisdiction multiple times to conduct research, listen to their opinions and suggestions, and solve practical difficulties for enterprises. During my research at Vida Paper Industry (China) Co., Ltd., I learned that when exporting paper products to the ASEAN market, due to the short shipping schedule, a preferential certificate of origin is required, and the goods must arrive at the port at the same time to ensure smooth customs clearance. In response to this situation, Xinhui Customs quickly launched a follow-up and feedback assistance mechanism, handling special matters and helping enterprises solve problems within one day.

"Xinhui Customs promptly guided and assisted us in self-service entry and printing, and also introduced credit visa measures, allowing us to send the certificate of origin to customers' hands before the goods arrive at the destination port," said Li Yudian.

According to statistics, in the first three quarters of this year, Jiangmen Customs processed a total of 554 certificates of origin for paper-making enterprises in its jurisdiction, with a total amount of 18.1426 million US dollars, helping export enterprises obtain import country tariff reductions of about 1.58 million US dollars.

Deep release of policy dividends

Assist enterprises in accelerating development

Under the impact of the epidemic, compared to the toilet paper industry, Asia Pacific Senbo (Guangdong) Paper Co., Ltd., one of China's major high-end cultural paper producers, has been affected to a certain extent in terms of exports by the impact of the epidemic.

"The early stage of the epidemic had a negative impact on our company, thanks to the strong support of customs, which eased the financial pressure on our company and provided support for its development," said Hong Qinglong, General Manager of Asia Pacific Senbo (Guangdong) Paper Industry Co., Ltd.

In order to promote stable development of foreign trade, Jiangmen Customs actively implements policies of delayed tax payment and reduction of late fees during the epidemic period. According to statistics, Jiangmen Customs has approved a total of 33.899 million yuan in delayed tax payment and waived 974000 yuan in late payment fees for the enterprise.

In addition, Jiangmen Customs continues to optimize the business environment at the port and consolidate the effectiveness of compressing the overall clearance time of goods. In September of this year, the overall clearance time for imports and exports at Jiangmen Customs District ports was reduced by 90.02% and 82.75% respectively compared to 2017.

The deep release of policy dividends and the continuous optimization of the port business environment have injected a shot in the arm for Asia Pacific Senbo (Guangdong) Paper Co., Ltd., which has a significant proportion of export business. On July 6th this year, the Jiangmen Municipal Government and Asia Pacific Senbo (Guangdong) Paper Industry Co., Ltd. signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement in Guangzhou, adding an investment of 20 billion yuan to the Yinzhouhu Paper Industry base in Guangdong, and constructing projects such as 900000 tons of cultural paper.

In order to assist in the implementation and effectiveness of the expansion project, Xinhui Customs, a subsidiary of Jiangmen Customs, has intervened in the business handling of major projects in advance through targeted services such as "face-to-face" workshops for customs enterprises, policy lectures, and door-to-door policy delivery, providing strong support for promoting enterprise capital increase and expansion.

Bonded Logistics Center (Type B)

Inserting "Flying Wings" for Paper Enterprises

Container trucks loaded with goods departed from Tianma Port in Xinhui and arrived at the bonded logistics center warehouse. The vehicles were running back and forth, and the loading and unloading equipment was running at full power, everything was going on in full swing. Most of the wood pulp required for the production of paper-making enterprises in Jiangmen Pass is imported from abroad. Although the development trend of Jiangmen Pass's outward oriented economy has been good in recent years, due to the lack of a bonded logistics center (B-type) in the local area, wood pulp imported in the form of incoming processing needs to be transported to other regions for tax protection and storage, which restricts business development.

To meet the needs of local enterprises for bonded logistics, Jiangmen Customs has taken the initiative to strengthen policy guidance and fully support local government departments in coordinating the construction of bonded logistics centers (B-type), guiding operating enterprises to develop project plans and improve software and hardware facilities. In July of this year, Jiangmen Daguang Bay Bonded Logistics Center (B-type), the first bonded logistics center in Jiangmen Guan District, was officially closed and put into operation.

After the completion of the center, papermaking enterprises in Jiangmen Guan District can import raw materials from overseas through Xinhui Port and directly enter Jiangmen Daguang Bay Bonded Logistics Center (Type B) for bonded storage. Not only does it save logistics and capital costs for enterprises, but it also helps to further extend the processing and trade industry chain, enjoy multiple policies such as bonded warehousing of imported goods, and tax refunds for exported goods upon entry into the center, providing Jiangmen paper enterprises with "wings for takeoff".

In order to promote the efficient operation of the bonded logistics center (Type B), Xinhui Customs, affiliated with Jiangmen Customs, has repeatedly carried out policy propaganda in papermaking enterprises, guiding them to make good use of relevant policies and warehousing functions. In response to the situation where wood pulp belongs to bulk cargo and one shipment often needs to be transported to the logistics center by multiple vehicles, the customs should effectively provide tracking services, guide enterprises to choose convenient ways to declare, and enable goods to quickly enter the logistics center for bonded storage. A dedicated person should be arranged to review the release form, saving waiting time for transportation vehicles to enter and exit the logistics center checkpoint. At present, without any abnormalities or selected inspections, it only takes an average of 10 minutes to complete the entry and exit of goods.

As of September 30th, a total of 36400 tons of goods with a value of 133 million yuan were used to carry out bonded warehousing business (i.e. import and export between the center and overseas) using Jiangmen B-bond; There are a total of 858 tons of goods with a value of 15.88 million yuan that have been transferred through Jiangmen B Insurance (i.e. import and export between the center and the domestic market).