The mutual recognition between China and Japan customs departments on "Authorized Economic Operator" (AEO) will be formally implemented on June 1 this year. So far, China has signed AEO arrangements with 40 countries and regions of 13 economies including the EU and Singapore, 14 of which are countries along the "Belt and Road".

As a large production-oriented enterprise, Wistron Zhongshan compaly benefits a lot from the AEO system. According to Mr Sun, customs business director of Wistron Zhongshan, after the company became a high-level certified enterprise, it has witnessed a declined cargo inspection rate at 0.3% in mutual recognition countries, thus achieving rapid circulation of goods and significantly reduced  trade cost.

The total imports and exports of the company amounted to 70.6 billion yuan in 2018, including exports of 5.99 billion yuan to 12 countries along the "Belt and Road" such as Czech, Malaysia, India, Singapore and Israel. This volume accounted for 14.84% of the total exports and is expected to rise this year.

According to the Zhongshan Customs, so far, there are 450 AEO enterprises in Zhongshan Customs Zone, accounting for 5% of the total registered companies. Zhongshan Customs has also assigned special coordinators for customs affairs to solve enterprises’ customs problems.

This year, Zhongshan Customs has held 4 training courses on customs enterprise certification given by business administration experts. More than 550 representatives from over 310 certified enterprises attended the courses.