Zhejiang Xinchangcheng Import and Export Company is one of the oldest companies that settled themselves in China Plastics City and today it is one of the largest enterprises in China Plastics City. On the 10th anniversary of China’s entry into the WTO, our correspondent made an interview with Tao Jinxiang, General Manager of the company, on the topic of China’s entry into the WTO.
Mr. Tao is deeply impressed with the changes taking place after China’s entry into the WTO. “What I’m most impressed is the constant decline of the customs duty of imported raw materials. Before China’s entry into the WTO, we had to pay customs duty as much as 16% for imported plastic materials. With China’s entry into the WTO, it dropped to 13%, then 9% till today’s 3%. Thanks to the free trade area agreement China signed with quite a number of countries, we generally don’t have to pay the duty for imported plastic materials. This has resulted in much profit for foreign trade companies.
Zhejiang Xinchangcheng Import and Export Company has a history of 14 years. Mr. Tao recalled that in the first year after the establishment of the company, the amount of sales of the company was about 100 million yuan. But this year, it is estimated that the sales value of the company will reach 1.5 billion yuan. In the beginning, the company had fewer than 10 employees. But now it has more than 40. Pointing to the tall office building of the company, Mr. Tao said, “With the growth of our company, we needed more office buildings and warehouses. So we built this building in 2005 as well as the warehouse. Today we have much better conditions for our future development.
Mr. Tao said that his company is a commercial agent of foreign engineering plastics. These products are widely used in cars and home appliances. With the improvement of the living standard and the popularity of cars for common people, as well as the home appliances, there is a great demand for engineering plastics. “With the constant decline of the customs duty, we get benefitted and the enterprises are benefitted for they have lower manufacturing cost.
With its years' efforts, Xinchangcheng is one of the largest enterprises in China Plastics City. For years it is among the top three for the amount of sales. “At present, out company has over 3,000 clients from provinces except for Xizhang and Qinghai”, said Mr. Tao.
In 2001, before China’s entry into the WTO, China Plastics City had 757 enterprises, 870 stalls with the area for business amounting to 61,800 square meters. The annual turnover was 1,310,000 tons valuing 9.723 billion yuan. In 2010, China Plastics City had 1,678 enterprises, with the area for business amounting to 335,800 square meters. The annual transaction volume amounted to 6,645,000 tons valuing 78.6 billion yuan. In the ten years, the volume is ten times larger.