Tibet sees double-digit foreign trade growth in first 11 months

Foreign trade value of the Tibet autonomous region reached 4.1 billion yuan ($587.12 million) in the January-November period of this year, representing a double-digit growth of 13.9 percent over the same period last year.

Of the total, exports increased by one fold to 3.90 billion yuan, while imports declined by 84.7 percent to stand at 262 million yuan.

In terms of trade, the region’s general trade volume was 2.75 billion yuan, up 31.5 percent year-on-year and accounting for 66.1 percent of the region’s total; and small-scale border trade was 1.39 billion yuan, a decrease of 8.8 percent.

In the January-November period, Tibet witnessed an increase of 30 trade partners to bring the total to 94 countries and regions around the world. Among its partners, Tibet saw a 6.6-fold rise in trade with 13 member countries of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, with a trade value of 554 million yuan. The autonomous region’s foreign trade with countries along the Belt and Road also registered a double-digit growth of 24.8 percent to reach 2.15 billion yuan.

Among all the cities in Tibet, Lhasa, the capital city, was the top contributor to the region’s total foreign trade with a trade value of 4.02 billion yuan and an increase of 21.9 percent, whose  foreign trade value accounted for 96.5 percent of the region’s total. Registered enterprises in the Lhasa Comprehensive Bonded Zone contributed 932 million yuan to Lhasa’s total foreign trade, while the Lhasa Economic and Technological Development Zone contributed 684 million yuan.

Other cities in the autonomous region also made their contributions to Tibet’s foreign trade: Xigaze city, 115 million yuan; Changdu city, 12.61 million yuan; Shannan city, 11.67 million yuan; Nagchu city, 2.98 million yuan; Nyingchi city, 1.73 million yuan; and Ngari prefecture, 100,000 yuan.

Lhasa Customs has further streamlined its services to foreign trade enterprises, simplifying its clearance procedures and consistently optimizing the environment for foreign trade firms. In the January-November period of this year, the average time for customs clearance of imports was 34.08 hours, a decrease of 55.99 percent compared with that of 2017, while the average time for customs clearance of exports was just 0.18 hours, a sharp decrease of 98.42 percent compared with that of 2017.