Source: Global Times-Global Network
On January 8, China's implementation of "Class B and B pipes" against the new crown virus has aroused great concern from the global business community. As a major trading partner of more than 140 countries and regions around the world and one of the most enthusiastic destination countries for cross-border investment in the world, China's major optimization and adjustment of epidemic prevention policies is bound to have an important impact on global economy and trade.
On January 10, the International Liaison Department of the CPC Central Committee held a "Briefing on China's Epidemic Prevention Policy" for representatives of foreign business circles in China. Nearly 170 representatives from more than 120 business associations and well-known enterprises in China from more than 30 countries and regions, including the United States, the European Union, Japan, the United Kingdom, Russia, Malaysia, Thailand, Israel, Mexico, and South Africa, attended the event. Relevant responsible persons and experts from the National Health Commission, the Ministry of Commerce, the General Administration of Customs, the National Immigration Administration, the Civil Aviation Administration of China and other departments conducted a centralized "Q&A" for representatives of Chinese business associations and foreign enterprises. The Global Times reporter observed at the briefing that the heads of relevant departments not only introduced the implementation of the overall plan and supporting measures of "Class B and B Management", explained the next plans and arrangements, but also gave clear answers to questions of great concern to foreign businessmen in China, such as "how China monitors the mutation of the virus", "how to improve the efficiency of inbound and outbound customs clearance logistics", and "when will direct flights between China and the United States resume".
The Global Times reporter also interviewed representatives of a number of foreign business associations at the briefing, who not only affirmed China's prevention and control policies during the three-year epidemic, but also showed great excitement about the implementation of China's "Class B and B management" policy, and strengthened their confidence in China's economic prospects. Many heads of foreign business associations told the Global Times reporter that after the implementation of the new policy, domestic business people are intensively planning their visits to China, and the economic and trade relations between countries and China will also usher in a broader space for development in 2023.
"Reassuring pills" for foreign businessmen in China
Qian Hongshan, deputy director of the International Liaison Department of the CPC Central Committee, said at the briefing, "With the obvious weakening of the pathogenicity and virulence of the Omicron variant, and the continuous improvement of China's medical treatment, pathogen detection, vaccination and other capabilities, the focus of prevention and control work has shifted from 'infection prevention' to 'health and severe disease prevention'." This is not only a timely and necessary move for scientific prevention and control, but also a strategic and long-term move to efficiently coordinate epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development, and safeguard the fundamental interests of the broadest masses of the people." Qian Hongshan expressed the hope that all representatives of the business community can see China's determination and perseverance in coordinating epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development, and strengthen confidence in China's future development and cooperation with China.
Tang Song, second-level inspector of the Department of Foreign Investment of the Ministry of Commerce, revealed that after conducting a "one-on-one" visit to relevant foreign-funded enterprises and a number of foreign business associations, the foreign investment special class of the Ministry of Commerce recently found that China's initiative to optimize and adjust the epidemic prevention and control measures was generally welcomed by foreign-funded enterprises and foreign business associations, and they all said that the optimization measures were "very timely and exciting", "solved the big problem of foreigners coming to China", and made its "development in China expected to be more stable". Many foreign-funded enterprises said that they have already formulated the schedule of high-level visits to China and actively promoted the resumption of relevant projects.
According to data from the Ministry of Commerce, in the first 11 months of last year, China's absorption of foreign investment reached 1.15609 billion yuan, an increase of 9.9% year-on-year on a comparable basis. Tang Song said that the confidence of foreign-funded enterprises to be optimistic about China and invest in China is as good as ever. Tang Song said, "In the next step, the Ministry of Commerce will earnestly implement the spirit of the Central Economic Work Conference, continue to promote the opening up and stabilize foreign investment policies and measures, and continue to serve everyone well."
On the first day of the adjustment of the new crown virus infection to "Class B and B pipe", the national customs supervised more than 250,000 inbound passengers, 396 ships transported by water, 325 aircraft imported by air, 6,323 highway inbound trucks, and 83 railway inbound trains, all of which have successfully cleared customs. Pang Lianping, deputy director of the Department of Health and Quarantine of the General Administration of Customs, pointed out at the briefing that the General Administration of Customs is actively guiding the local people's governments where the ports are located to gradually and orderly and steadily resume the opening of border ports and adjacent ports of Hong Kong and Macao in accordance with procedures, so as to provide safe and convenient port clearance services for personnel exchanges and trade development.
Qiu Yanming, second-level inspector of the Citizen Exit and Entry Administration Department of the National Immigration Administration, said that since January 8, the National Immigration Administration has implemented eight policies and measures to optimize immigration management, optimized the entry and exit and suspension policies for foreigners, gradually restored customs clearance for personnel at some land ports and water transport ports, implemented entry-exit border inspections in accordance with the law, and resumed the opening of border inspection fast channels adjacent to Hong Kong and Macao ports. Qiu Yanming said, "Judging from the situation on January 8 and 9, the relevant adjustment and optimization measures were generally welcomed by Chinese and foreign personnel, and the number of people entering and leaving the country increased and was orderly."
At around 10:40 a.m. on January 8, Beijing Capital International Airport welcomed the first cross-border flight on the first day of the new policy of the new coronavirus "Class B and B tube", operated by Cathay Pacific Airways, carrying 291 passengers. In addition, on January 17, Daxing Airport will officially resume international and regional passenger routes. Liang Nan, Director General of the Transport Department and Inspector I of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, further introduced at the briefing that after the Civil Aviation Administration of China accepted the flight plan applications of Chinese and foreign airlines on January 8, Chinese and foreign airlines have a positive attitude towards the resumption of international flights, and nearly 40 Chinese and foreign airlines have submitted applications for about 700 weekly passenger flights involving 34 countries, most of which are scheduled to resume operation from late January to February. At the same time, the Civil Aviation Administration of China has resumed accepting applications for international passenger charter flights and business jets to meet the needs of international business exchanges.
Focusing on "answering questions and solving doubts" has made foreign businessmen in China more confident
Kim Junbeom, chairman of Beijing Korean Peninsula Technology Co., Ltd., said during the question-and-answer session at the briefing that he was more worried about the virus mutating again. In this regard, Liang Wannian, head of the expert group of the National Health Commission's leading group for epidemic response and handling, said that the new coronavirus strain found in China has appeared or circulated internationally, and it is more likely that it is brought to China from abroad caused by the spread and epidemic.
Liang Wannian said, "After the 'Class B tube', China has made a special deployment, with special forces, special programs, and a special expert team to strengthen the monitoring of virus mutations, and a group of scientists are fully focused on monitoring and analyzing the mutations of pathogens."
According to Liang Wannian, in the monitoring of new coronavirus mutations, China takes the direct reporting of the disease prevention and control information system network as the main body, and all types of medical institutions at all levels do a good job in monitoring and reporting cases, and carry out various forms of surveillance at the same time. Liang Wannian said, "Once a new mutation is found or changes in the pathogenicity, transmissibility, virulence and other aspects of the virus caused by this mutation, on the one hand, we will notify the World Health Organization in a timely manner; On the other hand, our epidemic prevention and control system has been further alerted, and corresponding optimization, improvement and adjustment in prevention and control plans, medical treatment and other aspects have been made." Liang Wannian stressed that "in the prevention and control of major epidemics, the focus on pathogens is the most important, and China has always done so."
The representative of the Beijing branch of RSBK in Germany asked whether there would be some targeted policies or green channels for those who went abroad for business negotiations. In this regard, Qiu Yanming said that the National Immigration Administration promptly accepts and approves ordinary passports and provides entry and exit facilitation for Chinese citizens going abroad for employment, study, business, scientific research, academic exchanges, medical treatment, reunion, etc. If enterprise personnel need to apply for entry and exit documents for urgent reasons such as going abroad to participate in meetings, negotiations, signing contracts, etc., they may apply to the exit and entry administration authority of the local public security organ for "urgent matters", and the exit and entry administration agency will provide expedited handling services.
Starting from January 8, Hong Kong and the mainland resumed the first phase of quarantine-free "customs clearance". Hong Kong is an important transit point for the mainland's foreign trade and offshore RMB financial centre, and representatives of the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China are more concerned about the customs clearance situation and further arrangements between the two places in the next stage. In response, Qiu Yanming replied that the National Immigration Administration resumed issuing visas for tourism and business in Hong Kong from January 8. At present, mainland residents can apply for tourism, business, family visits, stay and other types of endorsements to Hong Kong. In the first stage, in addition to air and water transport ports, the land ports opened between Guangdong and Hong Kong also include Shenzhen Bay, Futian, Man Kam Du and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, allowing Chinese and foreign personnel to pass. "In the next step, we will continue to improve and optimize policies, facilitate personnel exchanges between the mainland and Hong Kong, and fully support Hong Kong's better integration into the overall development of the country and maintain long-term prosperity and stable development," Qiu said.
Israeli enterprises are widely involved in the global industrial chain and supply chain, and the industrial layout and suppliers are all over the world. When asking questions, the representative of the Israeli Chamber of Commerce in China paid the most attention to the smooth flow of the international industrial chain, especially the slowdown of freight and passenger transportation at China's land ports and the queuing of freight logistics during the epidemic control period.
In this regard, Pang Lianping replied that the General Administration of Customs attaches great importance to the work of ensuring the smooth operation of logistics. Adhere to the problem and effect orientation, timely introduce targeted measures for the breakpoints, blocking points and pain points reflected by key industries and key enterprises, promote innovative supervision models, strengthen coordination and cooperation with relevant units, actively serve and guide enterprises to quickly clear customs, and help smooth foreign trade logistics. Pang Lianping pointed out that "in the next step, the General Administration of Customs will continue to focus on the problems of enterprises, solidly do a good job in customs clearance guarantee for import and export logistics, and play a customs role in improving the efficiency of import and export logistics."
Regarding the issue of resuming direct flights between China and the United States mentioned by the Beijing representative office of the U.S.-China Business Council, Liang Nan said that from January 8, Chinese and foreign airlines can operate scheduled passenger flights in accordance with the arrangements of bilateral air transport agreements. She said, "We welcome Chinese and American airlines to operate flights between the two countries according to market demand and make new and greater contributions to promoting people-to-people and economic and trade exchanges between the two countries." During the process of flight resumption, the Civil Aviation Administration of China will also strengthen communication with the competent civil aviation authorities of the United States to promote the smooth resumption of flights between China and the United States."
"We are intensively planning our visit to China"
In an interview with the Global Times, Youfu, president of the China Israel Chamber of Commerce, highly affirmed the strong resilience of China's economy during the epidemic. "At the beginning of the pandemic, China quickly shifted from a shortage of medical supplies to a large amount of material aid to countries around the world," he said. I still remember that China sent a special plane to Israel to provide Israel with anti-epidemic materials. We were amazed."
It was China's anti-epidemic assistance provided to the world during the epidemic that made him feel that under the wave of globalization, countries should cooperate more and cooperate closely when public health crises occur, fully respecting each other's formulation and adjustment of epidemic prevention and control policies. "Given the differences in populations, national conditions, and the overall level of health care systems, the response measures taken by countries are often different," he said. We should communicate information based on this understanding, and study and cooperate together."
In the first 11 months of 2022, the import and export volume of China and Malaysia increased by 21.4% year-on-year to 661.3 billion yuan, ranking first among ASEAN countries. Luo Weijian, president of the Malaysian Chamber of Commerce in China, said in an interview with the Global Times, "Malaysian business people in China generally feel excited and excited about the adjustment of China's policy. We understand that many Malaysians have not returned home to be reunited with their families for three years. After the implementation of the 'Class B and B Tube' policy on January 8, they are eager to return to Malaysia during the Chinese New Year."
Lo Weijian also revealed that "Malaysia's Minister of International Trade and Industry should be arranging his visit to China, which may lead a delegation of enterprises." In addition, various departments of the Malaysian government, including the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Transport, have expressed their willingness to lead delegations to visit China as soon as possible."
China is Mexico's second-largest trading partner after the United States, and Mexico is China's second-largest trading partner in Latin America after Brazil. In the eyes of Lu Hai, director of public affairs of the Mexican Chamber of Commerce in China, after the implementation of the "Class B and B management" policy, China-Mexico economic and trade relations will reach a higher level. He told the Global Times reporter that the trade volume between China and Mexico will exceed 100 billion US dollars in 2021, and the adjustment of epidemic prevention policies will further promote the economic and trade development of China and Mexico. In addition, the Mexican tourism industry will also directly benefit from this policy adjustment. "Before the pandemic in 2020, Mexico was the only Latin American country with direct flights to China," he said. In 2019, Mexico received more than 100,000 Chinese tourists. Therefore, we expect that from the second quarter of this year to the second half of this year, tourism and cultural exchanges between China and Mexico, and even between China and other Latin American countries will further recover."
Bilateral trade between China and Russia exceeded $150 billion for the first time in 2022, setting a new historical record. During the interview, Gemma, director of the China Department of the United Russia Party's Social Conservative Policy Center, told the Global Times reporter, "After the adjustment of the entry and exit policy took effect on January 8, many Russian enterprises and industry associations have put a visit to China on the agenda, and they attach great importance to visiting China." Moreover, we are also inviting representatives of Chinese companies and industries to visit Russia. Now it has become easier to travel to and from China, and I hope that in 2023 there will be more frequent exchanges between the Chinese and Russian business communities, and the two countries will have closer people-to-people exchanges."
Jacques de Voss, a South African business person and executive director of Pusheng Huachang Business Consulting Co., Ltd., said in an interview with the Global Times that after the "Category B and B pipe" on January 8, China's ports are gradually recovering, and the most gratifying thing is that the problems faced by ocean shipping have returned to normalization, which has brought obvious benefits to the exports of some South African enterprises, and China has become more and more active in the policy of economic and trade exchanges with the outside world. He told reporters, "The formulation and adjustment of China's epidemic prevention and control policies reflect the management level of the Chinese government is very impressive. Policy optimization and adjustment will not bring negative impact. On the contrary, I feel that it is all positive. ”