Export companies in Zhoushan able to receive C/O in one min

Export companies in Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang province, are now capable of receiving certificates of origin within just one minute of applying, local media reported on Dec 11.

C/O is sometimes referred to as "paper gold", as it is allows exports to enjoy tariff reductions and exemptions, in addition to other forms of preferential treatment.

Chen Jieqiong, an employee of Zhoushan Olichem New Materials Co, was the first person in the city to enjoy this new convenience. She was approved for the C/O just 16 seconds after uploading the application materials to a newly-introduced intelligent review system on Dec 10.

Ru Pinghai of Zhoushan Customs said that the intelligent system is meant to improve Zhoushan's business environment and facilitate more trade.

Aside from randomly selected certificates that need to be manually reviewed, the entire application process for C/O now has no manual intervention and exporters can enjoy the service 24 hours a day, even on holidays.

The intelligent review system currently supports 16 types of C/O, including C/Os under free trade agreements between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Chile, Pakistan, New Zealand, Singapore, Costa Rica, Iceland, Switzerland, Australia, South Korea, and Georgia, a C/O under the Cross-Straits Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement and the Asia-Pacific Countries Trade Agreement, non-preferential certificates of origin, and certificates of origin form GSP.