Chinese Customs Announces 'Smart Customs' Initiative

China’s General Administration of Customs launched a “Smart Customs” initiative to incorporate “new-generation technologies to achieve smarter customs control,” according to a Jan. 16 press release. The initiative aims to better connect “all parties in the international supply chain,” the press release said.

During a Jan. 14 press conference to announce the initiative, Zou Zhiwu, deputy director of the General Administration of Customs, said economic confidence in China has risen due to successful U.S.-China trade negotiations (see 2001150073), adding that imports of U.S. soybeans and pork “increased significantly” in December. “China-U.S. economic and trade negotiations have released positive signals, and corporate confidence has risen,” Zou said, according to an unofficial translation. He said “survey data” of Chinese companies collected at the end of 2019 showed “the number of companies that are optimistic about the export situation in the next two to three months is increasing.”