APEC trade cooperation lowers prices for imported goods in China

Customs officials and logistics operators in China use APEC trade agreements to streamline the import of fresh produce and consumer goods from across the Asia-Pacific region.

The China-Chile Free Trade Agreement reduced tariffs to zero on about 98 percent of products, making items like Chilean cherries more affordable for Chinese consumers. Better logistics and faster customs processing have also contributed to these price drops.

For example, dedicated sea-freight services for cherries increased to 32, while transit times fell from 28 to 23 days. At Nansha Port in Guangzhou, officials can now clear fresh produce through customs in as little as two hours. These trade policies have directly lowered costs for local residents. In Guangzhou, a resident noted that a 3 kilogram durian now costs about 100 yuan, whereas it previously cost around 200 yuan.

Shenzhen Customs reported that imports of fresh durians reached a record high of 26,200 tons between April and July this year. Other products like milk powder from New Zealand and beef from Australia have also become more accessible due to these trade and investment liberalization efforts. The cooperation also simplifies travel for business people.

Holders of the APEC Business Travel Card can use a dedicated lane at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport to clear immigration in less than a minute, a process that previously took over 20 minutes. Data from the airport shows that more than 3.16 million entries and exits by foreign nationals from APEC economies occurred between January and August this year.