Chamber Meets Shanghai Customs Go back »

2009-08-11 | All chapters

European Chamber Shanghai Chapter Meets with Shanghai Customs 

On 11th August 2009, a European Chamber delegation, led by Shanghai Chairman Kiam Kong HO, visited Shanghai Customs and presented the European Business in China Position Paper 2008/2009and Business Confidence Survey 2009 to Mr.Sun Yibiao, Director-General of Shanghai Customs. Other attendees from Shanghai Customs included Deputy Director-General Mr.Chen Xudong, Director of Administrative office, Director of Foreign Affairs office and Deputy Director of Legal Affairs office. Chairs from European Chamber Logistics and IPR Working Group also participated at the meeting.  

Mr. Sun warmly welcomed this first-time courtesy visit of the European Chamber and gave a brief introduction on the work of Shanghai Customs as well as an update on the current EU-Shanghai trade situation. He praised the efforts that the European Chamber has made to promote dialogue between the EU business community and the local authorities. Mr. Sun also pointed out that Shanghai Customs, taking care of ¼ of the national imp/exp transactions, attaches great importance to the development of EU Business in Shanghai and is keen to hear their voice.  

Mr. Ho reiterated that Shanghai is the biggest Chapter of the European Chamber in terms of the number of member companies, and that both European MNCs and SMEs continue to view Shanghai as a promising business location in China. Under the current economic recession, government-enterprise communication has become even more important as it can help aid cooperation efforts to overcome any difficulties together. Such communication has been achieved between the European Chamber and various Chinese government agencies including GAC and Shanghai Customs.  

Mr. Chen exchanged views with the Logistics and IPR Working Group Chairs on the customs related key recommendations in the Chamber’s Position Paper 08/09. The openness and detailed feedback given by Mr. Chen was highly appreciated.  

Both sides expressed a common interest in strengthening future communication and cooperation at a high-level, as well as a working-level. With the assignment of contact points, the dialogue mechanism between Shanghai Customs and European Chamber’s Shanghai Chapter is launched.