Policy Interpretation of ＂Several Measures to Promote the Integration of Domestic and Foreign Trade in Tianjin＂

Recently, with the consent of the Tianjin Municipal People’s Government, the General Office of the Tianjin Municipal People’s Government officially issued "Several Measures for Promoting the Integrated Development of Domestic and Foreign Trade in Tianjin" (No.29 [2022] of Tianjin Municipal Government, hereinafter referred to as "Tianjin Measures") to make arrangements for promoting the integrated development of domestic and foreign trade in Tianjin. The promulgation of "Tianjin Measures" will further give play to the market advantages and domestic demand potential, improve the ability to make overall use of two markets and two resources, and build an important node of the domestic grand cycle and a strategic fulcrum of the domestic and international double cycle. The relevant information of the document is now interpreted as follows:

(1) What is the background of formulating the Tianjin Measures?

The Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee put forward that "it is necessary to speed up the construction of a new development pattern with the domestic big cycle as the main body and the domestic and international double cycles promoting each other". The General Secretary of the Supreme Leader repeatedly stressed that "the new development pattern is by no means a closed domestic cycle, but an open domestic and international double cycle". The government work report of our city in 2022 also pointed out that "we should strive to build an important node of the domestic big cycle and a strategic fulcrum of the domestic and international double cycle, create more application scenarios and better open platforms, and better attract the gathering of high-quality resources at home and abroad. The integration of domestic and foreign trade is an inherent requirement for building a new development pattern, a positive response to the challenges and opportunities in the new development stage, and is of great significance for cultivating and building an international consumption center city in our city and promoting the coordinated development of domestic trade, foreign trade, import and export.

Since the reform and opening up, especially since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the scale of China’s domestic foreign trade market has been growing day by day, and it has become the world’s second largest consumer market and the largest commodity trading country. Our city’s foreign trade has also developed rapidly. The import and export trade volume has increased from 150.37 billion yuan when we joined the World Trade Organization in 2001 to 856.74 billion yuan in 2021, an increase of 4.69 times and a record high. At the same time, with the approval of the State Council in July, 2021, Zhuhai took the lead in cultivating and building an international consumption center city, which brought great development opportunities for expanding domestic demand, promoting consumption, guiding export commodities to domestic sales, attracting high-quality goods imports, and smoothing domestic and international markets. In recent years, the docking of domestic and foreign trade markets in our city has been active, foreign trade enterprises have taken the initiative to explore the domestic market, domestic trade enterprises have actively expanded overseas markets, and the integration of domestic and foreign trade has accelerated, and a number of subjects engaged in both foreign trade and domestic trade have grown up, forming a number of industries that integrate domestic and foreign trade. However, there are still shortcomings in the integration of domestic and foreign trade, obstacles in the market access of domestic and foreign trade, imperfect system of domestic and foreign trade integration, insufficient ability to make overall use of two resources in the two markets, and insufficient smooth development of domestic and foreign trade integration, which can not fully meet the needs of building a new development pattern.

(2) What is the basis and process for formulating the Tianjin Measures?

In order to promote the integrated development of domestic and foreign trade, the General Office of the State Council officially issued the Opinions on Promoting the Integrated Development of Domestic and Foreign Trade on December 30, 2021, and made arrangements for promoting the integrated development of domestic and foreign trade, requiring all localities to study and determine specific policies and measures in light of the actual situation to promote practical results.

In order to implement the spirit of the State-run document, in accordance with the work arrangements of the municipal government, the Municipal Bureau of Commerce, together with relevant departments, combined with the cultivation and construction of "double centers" in our city, studied and drafted the "Tianjin Measures", solicited the opinions of 49 units including the people’s governments of various districts, relevant municipal departments, and relevant development zone management committees, fully absorbed and revised them, and reached an agreement through communication. At the same time, the public was consulted. ??

(3) What are the main contents of the Tianjin Measures?

The document defines five parts and 19 specific measures.

First, improve the system of domestic and foreign trade integration. Four measures are put forward, such as perfecting laws and regulations, perfecting supervision system, carrying out standard certification and promoting the homogeneity of the same line and standard. The key points include: timely promoting the revision of local laws, government regulations and administrative normative documents that hinder the integration of domestic and foreign trade; Carry out anti-unfair competition law enforcement in key areas; Promote enterprises to carry out benchmarking, and support third-party institutions such as inspection, certification and accreditation to provide one-stop services for domestic and foreign trade enterprises; Encourage and guide enterprises to develop homogeneity of the same line and standard through self-declaration or third-party evaluation.

The second is to enhance the development ability of domestic and foreign trade integration. Three measures are put forward to support the integrated operation of domestic and foreign trade by market players, guide the digital development of domestic and foreign trade enterprises, and innovate the integrated development model of domestic and foreign trade. The key points include: cultivating a group of high-quality trading enterprises with professional business, excellent service, unique products, new models, integrated development at home and abroad, strong innovation ability and competitive strength; Accelerate the digital transformation of foreign trade enterprises and encourage domestic and foreign trade enterprises to use big data technology to enhance their market analysis and judgment capabilities; Promote the construction of China (Tianjin) cross-border electronic commerce Comprehensive Experimental Zone and support enterprises to actively deploy overseas warehouses.

The third is to build an integrated development platform for domestic and foreign trade. Four measures are put forward, such as building a docking platform for production and marketing, giving full play to the internal and external functions of the exhibition, building a regional business distribution center, and cultivating an integrated service platform for domestic and foreign trade. The key points include: supporting foreign trade enterprises to conduct docking negotiations with large supermarkets, retail wholesalers, core supply chain enterprises, e-commerce platforms and live broadcast platforms to expand domestic sales channels; Support foreign trade enterprises to participate in domestic and foreign exhibitions and expand domestic and foreign markets; Cultivate and build an integrated domestic and foreign trade market; Support third-party platform enterprises to actively carry out integrated domestic and foreign trade services such as brand planning, standard certification, channel development, digital transformation, logistics and distribution, credit insurance financing and legal consultation.

The fourth is to build an integrated ecological environment for domestic and foreign trade. Five measures are put forward, such as building a highland of domestic and foreign trade integration development system, expanding consumption, tapping the potential of domestic demand, optimizing internal and external logistics channels, giving play to the role of financial security, and strengthening the training of professional talents. The key points include: promoting the coordinated development of Tianjin Pilot Free Trade Zone and special customs supervision zone, and expanding the business scale of bonded display transactions and classified supervision of warehousing goods in comprehensive bonded areas; Continue to carry out consumption promotion activities, expand the driving force of Haihe international consumption season, and accelerate the cultivation of new growth points such as night consumption, holiday consumption, customized consumption, green consumption and brand consumption; Improve the domestic and foreign trade service capabilities of Tianjin Port and Tianjin Binhai International Airport, and promote the high-quality normal operation of China-Europe trains; Strengthen the cooperative support of export credit insurance and domestic trade credit insurance for enterprises operating both domestic and international markets; Actively introduce high-level talents such as marketing, business management, e-commerce, digital economy and legal affairs.

Fifth, safeguard measures. Three safeguard measures are put forward: strengthening organizational guarantee, grasping the pilot work and strengthening publicity and promotion.

(four) to ensure the smooth implementation of the "Tianjin measures", what are the main safeguard measures?

First, the "Tianjin Measures" clearly requires all districts and relevant departments to fully understand the importance of promoting the integration of domestic and foreign trade, strengthen organizational promotion, and implement their work responsibilities. As the lead unit, the Municipal Bureau of Commerce should organize the establishment of a coordination mechanism for promoting the integration of domestic and foreign trade in this Municipality, and all relevant departments should be responsible for the division of labor, strengthen horizontal coordination and vertical linkage, form a joint effort, and ensure the effective implementation of all work. Each district should further refine its work measures in light of the actual situation of the district and promote the achievement of practical results.

Second, the "Tianjin Measures" proposes to meet the requirements of the standard country, promote the pilot work of integrated development of domestic and foreign trade, comprehensively sort out the problems and needs of integrated development of domestic and foreign trade, and promote the effective connection of domestic and foreign trade laws and regulations, supervision system, business qualifications, quality standards, inspection and quarantine, certification and accreditation. Study and explore the evaluation system of domestic and foreign trade integration, and feedback the effectiveness and shortcomings from different aspects. Strengthen the phased combing, regularly summarize the progress of key tasks and form an analysis report.

Third, the "Tianjin Measures" emphasizes the use of various media to promote the development of domestic and foreign trade integration, do a good job in interpreting relevant policies and reporting activities, tell the story of "Tianjin enterprises, Tianjin brands and Tianjin manufacturing", and create a good social atmosphere to support Tianjin products to open up domestic and foreign markets.