Shanxi province's imported and exported goods, worth more than 200 million yuan ($31.44 million), benefited from reduced tariffs in the first quarter of this year as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement took effect.  

Taiyuan Customs issued 310 RCEP certificates of origin over the past three months, involving 147.5 million yuan in exports. It accepted five import declarations under the RCEP with a value of 63.1 million yuan.

The RCEP certificates of origin involved inorganic chemical products and other chemicals exported to eight countries: Japan, Australia, Thailand, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Vietnam and Malaysia. 

The province reduced import tariffs by more than 1.17 million yuan for local enterprises. Tariffs on lubricating oil additives and electrolytic nickel imported from Japan were respectively reduced from six percent and three percent to 5.6 percent and zero, according to the RCEP agreement. 

Since the implementation of the RCEP agreement on Jan 1, Taiyuan Customs has established a comparative list of RCEP tariff reductions for the digital economy, equipment manufacturing, coal chemical, and biosynthesis sectors, and helped enterprises in Shanxi improve the structure of export products, expand product exports, and promote industrial development. 

In addition, the customs has strengthened the cultivation and protection of enterprises with independent intellectual property rights in new infrastructure, new technologies, new materials, new equipment, new products, and new industries, helping improve their core competitiveness and legal protection of intellectual property.