Substantial progress made on HK-mainland trade under CEPA

The Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement, or CEPA, has been implemented smoothly and yielded results up to expectations since it took effect on Jan.1 this year, said Chen Xing, Vice Director of Department of Taiwan, Macao and Hong Kong Affairs, Ministry of Commerce, at a seminar on June 14.

330 million HK dollars worth of zero-tariff goods with Hong Kong as the place of origin had entered into the mainland market under CEPA by May 31. Varieties mainly included food, pharmaceuticals, petro-chemicals, jewelry, metal products, electronic products, clocks and watches, and toys. Applications for more zero-tariff treatment are snowing down.

By May 31, HK Trade and Industry Department had received 354 applications for certifications of HK service providers and approved 298 of them. The applications covered industries of transportation and logistics, distribution, banking, telecommunication, advertising, legal services, construction, health care and audio and visual. Some applications involving banking, telecommunication, audio and visual, logistics and goods agencies have got greenlights from the mainland.

Various concrete progresses have also been made on facilitating trade and investment and mutual recognition of qualifications of professionals. Chen noted that mainland and Hong Kong, within the framework of CEPA, were carrying out implementation and had made progresses on various fields, ranging from trade and investment promotion, easier customs procedures, cooperation between small and medium sized enterprises and e-commerce to transparency of laws and regulations, inspection and quarantine of products and cooperation on traditional Chinese medicine.

By People's Daily Online