On March 16, the General Administration of Customs, in collaboration with 24 departments and agencies—including the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Transport, and the Ministry of Commerce—jointly launched the 2026 Special Initiative on Cross-Border Trade Facilitation. Changchun has been officially approved as a pilot city for this initiative, becoming one of 20 newly added pilot cities this year.

The 2026 Special Initiative focuses on key priorities such as upgrading goods trade, vigorously expanding services trade, and fostering innovative development in digital and green trade. A new set of facilitation policies and measures has been introduced to enhance the quality and efficiency of foreign trade. These include 29 specific actions, such as innovating supervision models for import and export customs clearance, optimizing oversight and services for new forms of foreign trade, improving the efficiency of cross-border logistics and transport, advancing the development of smart and digital ports, promoting the alignment of standards and regulations, and strengthening comprehensive services for enterprises.

Actively Pursuing Pilot Approval and Seizing Opportunities

Changchun’s successful selection as a pilot city for the national initiative is the result of high-level coordination and dedicated efforts by the Changchun Municipal Committee and Government, as well as the strong support and collaboration of departments such as Changchun Customs and the Jilin Provincial Department of Commerce. In recent years, Changchun has diligently implemented the provincial authorities' requirements for high-standard opening up, actively integrated into the Belt and Road Initiative, continuously improved the port business environment, and fostered new drivers of foreign trade growth. This designation not only fully recognizes Changchun’s previous efforts but also presents a significant opportunity to further deepen reforms in cross-border trade facilitation and promote high-quality foreign trade development.

Moving forward, Changchun will seize this opportunity and work closely with Changchun Customs and other departments, focusing on the following aspects:

Firstly, in alignment with the 29 key actions of the initiative and adhering to a "tailored approach for each locality," Changchun will refine its implementation plan based on its unique industrial characteristics and open-door advantages. It will selectively pilot and precisely implement key measures in areas such as innovating customs clearance supervision models, optimizing services for new foreign trade formats, enhancing cross-border logistics efficiency, and strengthening digital and intelligent port construction. The goal is to develop a set of institutional innovations with Changchun characteristics, contributing "Changchun experience" to cross-border trade facilitation at the provincial and national levels.

Secondly, Changchun will deepen collaboration between customs and local authorities, fully leverage the functional advantages of the Changchun Xinglong Comprehensive Bonded Zone, and expand the "TIR+" model. It will consolidate its national leadership in TIR international road transport, support the high-quality, regular operation of China-Europe freight trains, expand the scale of the "one-document system" for sea-rail intermodal transport, and drive continuous upgrades in port logistics and access.

Thirdly, Changchun will strengthen targeted services for enterprises, launching special initiatives such as "Customs Directors Deliver Policies to Enterprises" and the "Hundred Exhibitions, Thousand Enterprises" program. Focusing on key sectors like automobiles and auto parts, agricultural products, and cross-border e-commerce, it will adopt a "one enterprise, one policy" approach to address bottlenecks and difficulties in customs clearance, helping enterprises explore international markets and enabling more "Made in Jilin" products to reach the global stage through streamlined facilitation channels.

Source: Changchun Commerce, Changchun Release  Editor: Liu Jiadi