Ningbo expands into Latin American via certificates of origin

Ningbo-Zhoushan Port. [Photo/cnnb.com.cn]

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the China-Latin America community of shared destiny initiative. As China-Latin America relations enter a new phase of rapid growth, bilateral trade continues to flourish. China has established five free trade agreements the Latin American countries of Peru, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Nicaragua.

Ningbo's foreign trade enterprises are actively leveraging these FTAs, using certificates of origin to maximize policy benefits and explore emerging markets.

"Chile is a key market for us. Thanks to the China-Chile FTA, clothing exports to Chile enjoy zero tariffs and make our products significantly more competitive," said Xue Qinfeng, documentation manager at Ningbo Seduno Import and Export Co Ltd.

In the first 11 months of this year, the company applied for 3,124 certificates of origin under the China-Chile FTA, involving a trade value of 160 million yuan ($21.97 million), marking increases of 36.9 percent and 15.94 percent year-on-year, respectively.

Peru was the first Latin American country to sign a comprehensive FTA with China. On Nov 14, China and Peru upgraded their FTA by refining rules of origin, customs procedures, and trade facilitation measures, which creates new opportunities for Ningbo enterprises.

"Our exports of stationery products like notebooks and file folders to Peru now benefit from zero tariffs, reducing transaction costs and increasing profits," said Lou Ke from Ningbo Zhaosheng Stationery Co Ltd.

In the first 11 months of this year, Ningbo Customs issued 31,207 certificates of origin for exports to Latin American countries, with a trade value of nearly 6.6 billion yuan, reflecting increases of 27.22 percent and 16.42 percent, respectively.