Hangzhou launches new initiatives for economic and trade cooperation with BRICS countries, supporting digital trade, cultural exports, and cross-border logistics to drive rapid growth in foreign trade.
Source: Hangzhou Daily
Support BRICS digital trade enterprises in establishing headquarters in Hangzhou; support cultural "new three items" enterprises such as games, micro-short dramas, and online novels in expanding to BRICS countries; support cross-border live streaming cooperation with BRICS countries, providing assistance in network infrastructure construction and overseas promotion; encourage enterprises to set up offices in international commodity trade hub cities like Dubai... Recently, Hangzhou introduced several measures to support the construction of the China Cooperation Center for BRICS Special Economic Zones (referred to as "several measures") to deepen economic and trade exchanges with BRICS countries.
In March of this year, the China Cooperation Center for BRICS Special Economic Zones was officially established in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, creating a high-level platform to promote cooperation among BRICS countries. Expanding two-way investment is a key area of cooperation in BRICS special economic zones. The "several measures" support and promote investment in BRICS countries, encourage the construction of overseas economic and trade cooperation zones in BRICS countries, and support enterprises in participating in the investment and construction of infrastructure projects such as transportation and energy in BRICS countries. They also support the establishment of R&D centers or production bases in BRICS countries; support the implementation of the WTO’s Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement in BRICS special economic zones, creating green channels for two-way investment; and explore ways to enhance the convertibility of RMB in BRICS countries, encouraging banks and insurance institutions to set up branches in BRICS countries. Since the establishment of the China Cooperation Center for BRICS Special Economic Zones, Hangzhou has jointly organized various promotion and investment facilitation activities with South Africa, Kenya, and Thailand, and launched the "Buy in BRICS" series of events. Twenty-seven overseas service providers, including 36Kr, Sinosure, EY, and LinkedIn, have joined the cooperation center, building an online and offline service ecosystem to support the expansion of two-way investment.
At the same time, Hangzhou will support improving the convenience of customs clearance for imports and exports to BRICS countries, explore the establishment of return supervision processes and standards for cross-border e-commerce businesses targeting BRICS countries, support the creation of cross-border e-commerce export consolidation centers, and build the province’s first comprehensive designated supervision site, opening a dedicated green channel for importing fresh products from BRICS countries; explore facilitation measures for customs inspection and supervision of imports and exports for biopharmaceutical, integrated circuit, and smart manufacturing enterprises. Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport has innovated the "advance declaration + immediate inspection upon arrival" supervision model, where customs initiates document review when the flight takes off, and seamlessly connects with inspection upon the arrival of goods, facilitating the landing of fresh cherries from Uzbekistan, a BRICS partner country, at Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport.
Optimizing the cross-border logistics network is an important aspect of deepening cooperation in BRICS special economic zones. Hangzhou will support the development of international routes to and from BRICS countries and jointly built "Belt and Road" countries, support the enhancement of the international aviation hub’s capacity, and accelerate the construction of Xiaoshan International Airport’s global smart logistics hub. It is reported that Emirates will launch a direct flight between Hangzhou and Dubai starting July 30, operating daily. Hangzhou will become the fifth gateway city in China for Emirates, after Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.
Driven by the China Cooperation Center for BRICS Special Economic Zones, Hangzhou’s exports to BRICS countries have grown rapidly this year. From January to May, exports to BRICS countries (including partner countries) increased by 17% year-on-year, with total import and export volume reaching 93.597 billion yuan. The BRICS market is increasingly becoming an important pillar driving Hangzhou’s foreign trade export growth.
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