Certificates of origin

SHENZHEN Customs issued 1,785 certificates of origin for export commodities from Shenzhen to Japan under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement in April, up by 34% year on year.

Under this arrangement, Japan lowered import tariffs of products from China starting April 1. The products include vegetables, fruits, garments and bags.

Since the RCEP took effect Jan. 1, Shenzhen Customs has issued some 5,000 certificates of origin involving commodities worth 1.155 billion yuan (US$171.84 million). Among them, more than 4,700 certificates were issued to products for export to Japan.

Institute inaugurated

SHENZHEN Institute for Advanced Polymer Materials (SIAP) was officially inaugurated yesterday in Longgang District. The institute was initiated by the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CUHK-SZ). Zhu Shiping, vice president of CUHK-SZ, was appointed as SIAP president.

During the inauguration ceremony, SIAP also signed cooperation agreements with Shenzhen Institute of Information Technology and several companies including BASF, a leading chemical company.