China to extend, improve its policies on e-commerce retail import

China decides to extend its existing policies on e-commerce retail import and expand their scope of application, according to a report of Xinhua News Agency on Wednesday.

This decision was made at the executive meeting of the State Council held on Wednesday, which commended the role of cross-border e-commerce as a new business model that advances China’s opening-up, foreign trade, new economic growth drivers, consumption and job creation.

The executive meeting decided that the existing regulatory policies on e-commerce retail import will remain in force after Jan. 1, 2019.

Under these policies, an item delivered by an overseas e-commerce retailer to a first-time buyer in China doesn’t need to go through the import approval procedure, neither does it need to be registered or recorded. Such an item is subject to regulations that apply to personal articles carried through China’s border.

These favorable policies will expand from the previous 15 cities to cover another 22 that began to pilot cross-border e-commerce in July, including Beijing, the capital of China, as well as the northeastern city of Shenyang and the eastern city of Nanjing.

Another 63 taxable items, which are in high demand in China, will be added to the list of e-commerce retail goods that enjoy tariff exemption within certain quotas as well as a 30 percent cut in the payable import value added tax and consumption tax.

The above quotas for China’s on-line retail buyers will be raised from 2,000 yuan (288.61 U.S. dollars) to 5,000 yuan (721.53 U.S. dollars) for a single transaction, and from 20,000 yuan (2,886 U.S. dollars) per person every year to 26,000 yuan (3,752 U.S. dollars). More adjustments to these figures are possible in the future based on the change of people’s income over time.

E-commerce export will see support granted in line with established international practices. Related policies, such as tax rebates, will be considered and improved.

More efforts will be made to improve the monitoring of product quality and safety, prevent risks, ensure fair competition and protect consumers’ rights and interests.