China Lifts Registration System for Foreign Trade Authorization

China's commercial authorities have canceled registration requirements for businesses engaged in foreign trade activities from Dec 30, 2022, following a revision of the country's Foreign Trade Law, the Ministry of Commerce said.

The authorities will no longer require market entities to provide foreign-trade operator registration materials in applying for import and export licenses, registration certificates of technology import and export contracts, quotas, state-owned trade qualifications, and other relevant documents.

Since the year of 2023, enterprises engaged in international trade business shall automatically obtain import and export rights without going through the filing and registration procedures of foreign trade operators any more. However, all such enterprises still need to go through customs registration to obtain customs declaration authority.

It is an important institutional innovation for the government to promote trade liberalization. It would help optimize the business environment, release the potential for foreign trade growth, and promote high-quality trade development and high-level opening up, the ministry said.