Xiamen Port handles up to 11.405 million TEUs of containers in 2020

 The Port of Xiamen saw a rise of container throughput by 2.54% in 2020 at 11.405 million TEUs year on year. Supported by a stable industrial chain and supply chain, Fujian Province has shown a high demand for cross-border e-commerce logistics. Leveraging the world-class business environment, the vessel "ZIM Virginia", the first "e-commerce express" in the port, was launched in September last year, featuring the 15-day direct reach to the port of Los Angeles in the United States and thereby significantly improving the efficiency of logistics. As an international shipping center and port-based national logistics hub, the Port of Xiamen tops China in terms of the business environment of maritime container ports, and has forged an efficient shipping link between Fujian and global buyers and sellers to boost the high-quality development of Fujian and Xiamen.

Xiamen reaches record high in paid-in foreign investment in 2020

 In 2020, Xiamen achieved a year-on-year increase of 23.8% to RMB 16.6 billion in paid-in foreign investment, with scale accounting for 47.7% of the province, hitting a new record high. In terms of industrial structure, the service industry becomes a new hot spot for foreign investment. There were 940 new foreign-funded enterprises in Xiamen's service industry last year, accounting for 95.2% of the city's new foreign-funded enterprises. Large projects showed obvious driving effect, and new foreign-funded projects with contracts worth over 10 million US dollars increased by 90 in the city, with contracted foreign investment of 5.029 billion US dollars, up 3.5%. Xiamen guided foreign-funded enterprises to make use of preferential policies and measures, with foreign investment incentive funds of RMB 80.415 million offered. Xiamen also vigorously carried out "cloud investment", and signed 29 foreign-funded projects with a total planned investment of RMB 32.8 billion.

Fujian specifies the international development direction of Xiamen Port

 The newly announced Fujian Province Coastal Port Layout Plan (2020-2035) explicitly stipulates that Xiamen Port shall highlight its direction towards internationalization and shoulder the responsibility of leading other ports in the province to fully participate in the regional port competition. In the future, Xiamen Port shall actively promote the integration and restructuring of port resources, promote the development of port-centered industries, actively expand the modern shipping service industry, and accelerate the construction of Xiamen International Shipping Center. By 2035, the throughput of the province's coastal ports is expected to reach 880 million tons with that of Xiamen Port over 300 million tons, and its container throughput will exceed 20 million TEU.

Xiamen Free Trade Zone ranked first among national cultural export bases

 The General Office of China's Ministry of Commerce recently announced the comprehensive evaluation results of national cultural export bases. Xiamen Free Trade Zone scores high with a comprehensive score of 91.4, ranking first among the functional zone of these bases. The announcement points out that the cultural industry of the National Cultural Export Base in Xiamen Free Trade Zone features a high degree of outward orientation, rapid progress of cultural trade, and distinct highlights and characteristics in the cultural exchange and trade with Taiwan. The base also excels in terms of the added value of the cultural industry, the import and export volume of cultural services, and the construction of cultural exchange platforms. Statistics shows that in 2020, there are 2010 cultural enterprises in Xiamen Free Trade Zone with a total registered capital of 12.665 billion yuan, of which nearly half were settled after the base was approved. Due to the synergy, the total import and export of cultural products and services in Xiamen reached 10.903 billion yuan in 2020, up 20.04% year on year.

Xiamen pioneers the launch of "one integrated license" reform

 Xiamen launched the pilot project of "one integrated license" in supermarkets, drugstores, and mother and baby stores as the first batch of pilot industries based on the principle of voluntary application by enterprises from March 1 this year, making it the first in the province to implement the market supervision reform. "One integrated license" combines the previously required multiple licenses into one for market access to a specific industry by restructuring the examination and approval management service process. This is an important initiative launched by Xiamen to continuously optimize the business environment. Licenses signify an effective integration of administrative resources for government departments, while a comprehensive industry license implies a reduction in establishment costs for enterprises.

Xiamen implements "deferral of withholding tax" to assist foreign-funded enterprises

 To promote foreign investment in China, China has rolled out a policy of "deferral of withholding tax". The policy provides that profits distributed to foreign investors from residents of China, which are used for domestic direct investment, as long as the profits comply with certain conditions, can enjoy the deferral of withholding income tax policy for the time being. Xiamen tax department actively implements this policy and screens out the eligible foreign-funded enterprises for proactive contact. Statistics show that the taxation department has accepted 12 tax deferral filings in Haicang District alone since 2020. The relevant enterprises have enjoyed dividends of RMB 450 million from the deferral of withholding tax, up 55% over 2019. The tax business environment has further improved, effectively boosting the expansion and sustainable development of foreign investment.

Xiamen accelerates the building of an international integrated transport hub city

 Recently, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued the National Comprehensive Three-dimensional Transportation Network Planning Outline, which clearly proposes to speed up the building of about 20 cities including Xiamen into international integrated transport hub. Meanwhile, the Outline determines that role of such international hub seaports as the Port of Xiamen will be brought into play to accelerate the progress of building a shipping hub that reaches the globe, and to push forward the construction of Xiamen Southeast International Shipping Center, etc. The Outline is reportedly prepared for the purposes of making China a global leading power in transportation, building a modern national comprehensive three-dimensional transportation network with high quality, and supporting the construction of a modern economic system and a modern socialist power. The construction has a planned period from 2021 to 2035, with a long-term prospect to the middle of this century.