20.18. Processing trade accounts for a large share of Chinese exports and imports (about 50 per cent of exports and 30 per cent of imports).[8] The General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China, which is the responsible agency for merchandise trade statistics, defines goods for processing based on the customs procedure of inward processing, under which certain goods can be brought into China’s customs territory for manufacturing or processing with subsequent exportation. Two types of customs regimes are differentiated: type I, whereby the imported input remains the property of the supplier and type II, whereby the ownership of imported inputs is transferred to producers of China. The placement of goods under the inward processing procedure requires authorization and customs monitors the processing operation. The external trade statistics reflect collection of information at the enterprise transaction level.
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[8] See Hongman Jin, “China’s Practice in Statistics of Goods for Processing” (Statistics Department, General Administration of Customs of China), presentation at the Global Forum on Trade Statistics, Geneva, 2-4 February 2011.