SCODA Newly Introduced 21 Institutional Innovation Cases to Accelerate Building the Pilot Area for Trade and Investment Facilitation
Building on the 35 institutional innovation cases launched last year, this year, SCODA focused on the pain points and bottlenecks in local economic and trade cooperation among the SCO countries and countries along the Belt and Road, and introduced 21 new high-level institutional innovation cases with SCO characteristics. These cases mainly cover six areas: logistics and transportation, trade development, production capacity cooperation, commercialization of scientific and technological achievements, free flow of people, and facilitation of financial supply. They emphasized "rules, regulations, management and standards", and provided solutions for promoting trade facilitation and upgrading the level of economic and trade cooperation among SCO countries. The experience and practices of institutional innovation have been published in the briefing of the Commission for Further Reform Under the CPC Central Committee for two consecutive years, and innovative cases such as the SCO Comprehensive Service Platform and City Information Model (CIM) have been promoted by the General Administration of Customs, the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Natural Resources.
Logistics and Transportation Facilitation
SCODA has established a southern Trans-Caspian transport corridor for China-Europe Freight Trains. The scheduled lines regularly run to Baku in Azerbaijan, Tbilisi in Georgia and Izmit in Turkey using a multimodal transport mode of "international railway + water transport", saving about one-third of the time compared with conventional sea-land multimodal transport, and effectively guaranteeing the stability of the international industrial chain and supply chain. The Customer Service Center of Eurasian Railway Transport provides whole-process services covering domestic and overseas railways, such as the assembly, deployment and transfer, effectively meeting the diversified demands of customers in logistics and financing. Since its opening in March this year, the center has assembled and deployed 7,200 TEUs, booked space for and transferred 990 TEUs, and transported 1,200 TEUs by sea-rail multimodal transport for the customers.
Trade Development and Facilitation
SCODA has established a cooperative mechanism of credit certification for tax enterprise between SCODA and the customs, adopted the certification mode of "customs leading + government support + third party participation", and conducted AEO and A-class tax credit cultivation and certification for key enterprises, so as to enable the enterprises to enjoy both customs clearance convenience and tax incentives. AEO qualification is a "green" passport for global trade. After the mutual recognition agreement is signed between countries (regions), the inspection rate of enterprises with AEO certification can be reduced by 60% to 80%, and the time and cost of customs clearance can be reduced by more than 50% when goods are imported and exported between their own countries and mutual recognition countries. At present, SCODA has reached cooperation intentions with Uzbekistan, Armenia, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Sri Lanka and other SCO countries, and will gradually promote mutual recognition of AEO with relevant SCO countries and enhance trade facilitation. Meanwhile, SCODA is the first to launch a comprehensive economic and trade service platform for SCO countries. It consists of three systems, eight modules and 73 sub-functions, enabling information sharing, exchange and collaboration across borders, departments, and industries, covering full documents and procedures. It provides a full-cycle comprehensive service system for trade enterprises of the SCO countries, and has become the first one-stop professional economic and trade comprehensive service platform of China's multilateral cooperation mechanism, and the only "single window" platform for international trade listed to serve specific economic and trade cooperation organizations. The platform was officially launched on November 21 on China International Trade Single Window.
Production Capacity Cooperation Facilitation
SCODA has innovated the mechanism of "sister city cooperation + interaction between twin industrial parks", held nearly 300 economic and trade exchanges with cities and industrial parks in 19 countries, including Russia, Uzbekistan and Belarus, and facilitated the signing of memorandums of cooperation with 37 industrial parks and institutions in 18 countries, thus deepening and strengthening SCO local economic and trade cooperation.
Scientific and Technological Cooperation Facilitation
SCODA has deepened the application of the Handle identification resolution system, and accelerated the construction of the City Information Model (CIM) to empower the construction of green intelligent industrial parks. In terms of facilitating the free flow of people, we will explore the establishment of international offshore innovation and entrepreneurship base for talents. With a view to facilitating financial supply, SCODA has made innovations in cross-border financial service platforms to expand financing applications for China-Europe Freight Train, and launched the "SCODA E+" series of products to facilitate trade, logistics financing and foreign exchange payment.
"The cases of institutional innovation implemented this year sought breakthroughs via trade facilitation measures, not only effectively responded to the traditional difficulties in the supply of regional public goods, but also made a vivid practice in reducing supply costs and innovating supply methods," said Li Jinfeng, Executive Director and Researcher of the Center of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. In terms of financial facilitation, the institutional innovation of SCODA has effectively alleviated financing difficulties for small and micro businesses, reduced financing costs for enterprises, further expanded overseas investment channels, and enriched international financial cooperation forms. In terms of facilitating production capacity cooperation, these cases should effectively resolve issues related to regional coordination, exchanges among cities and the planning and development of industrial parks, so as to deepen and strengthen SCO local economic and trade cooperation. In terms of facilitating scientific and technological cooperation, SCODA has promoted the transfer of technologies for international cooperation and effectively resolved the problems restricting the construction of green and smart industrial parks.
"The 21 institutional innovation cases launched by SCODA this year cover the construction of major international logistics channels, cross-border trade information sharing, bilateral and multilateral mutual recognition for customs clearance, comprehensive services for economic and trade cooperation, and address the pain points and bottlenecks in the SCO local economic and trade cooperation among the SCO and the Belt and Road countries. Together with customs, taxation, Shandong High-speed Group and other departments, universities and enterprises, we have made joint efforts to tackle key problems, put forward practical solutions, and formed batches of replicable institutional innovation cases, so as to improve international investment and trade facilitation, and boost the construction of a major country of trade and transportation." said Li Gang, Vice Secretary of the Party Working Committee and Executive Deputy Director of the Administrative Committee of SCODA. SCODA has always placed institutional innovation in a prominent position, and created the innovation brand of "Intelligent SCODA". It has launched 56 institutional innovation cases with SCO characteristics, including Credit SCO, SCO · Bank Customs Pass, and SCO · Exchange Insurance Pass, forming a number of distinctive and influential institutional innovation achievements. Meanwhile, SCODA has upgraded various innovation systems, and accelerated building an experiment area for institutional innovation of two-way local investment and trade with SCO member states.
Going forward, SCODA will fully implement the requirements of the 20th CPC National Congress, strengthen its exemplary and leading role in institutional innovation, speed up the establishment of experiment area for institutional innovation of two-way local investment and trade with SCO member states, and follow the General Plan to boost the building of a new platform for Belt and Road international cooperation with high-level institutional innovation, thus opening up new prospects for building a modern socialist international metropolis in a new era.