Customs authorities introduce measures to bolster new western land-sea corridor

China's General Administration of Customs (GAC) on Tuesday announced a set of 15 new measures to build a comprehensive hub for inland opening up, and further support the development of the new western land-sea corridor.

Anchored in Chongqing and with key western provincial-level regions as critical nodes, the corridor employs a blend of rail, sea and road transport to connect with global destinations via the coastal and border ports of the Guangxi (Zhuang Autonomous Region) and Yunnan (Province).

The new measures will help simplify customs procedures, boost opening up, support industrial growth and reduce costs, according to a press briefing of the GAC in Chongqing.

In July last year, it adopted 15 measures to support the development of the corridor. Over the past year, efforts have been made to enhance cross-border logistics, strengthen opening up of western inland, foster vibrant economic and trade development along the corridor.

The multimodal transport of the new western land-sea corridor now connects 542 ports in 125 countries and regions worldwide, with variety of items transported expanded to more than 1,160.

The corridor has spurred impressive growth, with China's imports and exports via the corridor reaching 1.15 trillion yuan (about 160 billion U.S. dollars) in the first 10 months this year, an 8.8 percent increase year on year.

Customs authorities introduce measures to bolster new western land-sea corridor

The total profits of light industrial enterprises above the designated size in China (firms with annual business revenue of at least 20 million yuan) exceeded one trillion yuan (about 138.67 billion U.S. dollars) in the January-September period, according to the China National Light Industry Council.

Driven by supportive policies aimed at boosting the consumption, such as consumer goods trade-in programs, China's light industrial economy has been operating smoothly. The domestic and foreign trade markets are expanding steadily, and investment is recovering rapidly.

In the first three quarters, the operating income of light industrial enterprises above the designated size reached 16.52 trillion yuan, with profits totaling 1.02 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.2 percent.

Among them, the output growth rates for household freezers, air conditioners and refrigerators stood at 14 percent, 8 percent, and 7.5 percent, respectively, and industries such as papermaking, batteries and furniture saw profits maintaining a double-digit growth.

The market size of light industry expanded steadily, with exports reaching 682.16 billion U.S. dollars, up 2.6 percent year on year.

Profits of China's light industrial enterprises above designated size exceeds one trl yuan in Jan-Sept