Freight from China to Thailand | Your Operational Standard for This Route

*Please note that E-Form exempts duties and taxes, but Thai VAT is still mandatory (7%).

Definition of CO

A Certificate of Origin (CO) is a document proving that the export goods have been produced in a particular country, ready to be shipped to another country. It must be provided by a notary public, government. The exporter of the goods can also issue it. It is usually divided into GSP certificate of origin (Form A), and various regional preferential certificates of origin, and non-preferential certificates of origin.

ASEAN-China Free Trade Certificate of Origin

The China – ASEAN Free Trade Certificate of Origin (FORM E) is now valid for exportations to the main following countries: Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Singapore, Brunei, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos. It has to comply with the relevant provisions of the product, as issued by the China – ASEAN free Trade Area of ​​preferential origin confirmation letter (FORM E). The 10 countries mentioned before can benefit from preferential tariffs (up to a 5% lower tax rate).

The “Trade in Goods Agreement” defines the sample format of certificates of origin that must be respected. The “trade in goods agreement” Protocol II also requires a description of the contents that must be mentioned on the back page.

Reduced import duties thanks to FTAs between China and Thailand come with a probable future development of infrastructures, such as railways. This should generate a significant reduction of logistics costs, enhancing business and touristic flows in Thailand.

Thailand is trading 79% of its goods to/from another ASEAN member, at a very competitive price. This kind of business relationships between countries has been a real driver for the development of the ASEAN bloc. We can be sure that such an agreement between China and Thailand would be a key asset for both countries.

mport duties between Thailand and China

Tariffs and Taxes

China is aligned with the Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) for imported and exported goods coming from members states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Here is the composition of an HS Code, you can now see what an HS code is and what does it mean.

Import / Export Relations between China and Thailand

Important flows guided by a free trade agreement

Import / Export flows between China and Thailand are growing steadily from year to year. These two countries have good relations; culturally speaking, it is estimated that between one-third and one-half of Thai people would have Chinese origins. The ties between the two countries have tightened even more since the 2014 coup d’état, with Thailand diverting from the United States. China is the first economic partner of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations).

A Framework Agreement between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the ASEAN Kingdom entered into force in 2003 to promote comprehensive economic cooperation. Indeed, it was decided that a free trade area would be established within 10 years.

The main points of this agreement are:

• The elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers on international trade in products,
• The liberalization of international trade in services
• Foreign direct investment
• Simplification of customs procedures and
• Mutual recognition agreements.

The ASEAN-China Free Trade Area is the third largest free trade area in the world, and here are some important points:

1.  1.9 billion people (30% of the world’s population)
2. GDP: $ 2 billion
3. International trade: $ 1.1 billion
4. International trade will increase by 38.9%
5. Imports and exports are expected to increase by 50%
6. Five ASEAN countries are China’s largest trading partners
7. China is the third largest source of imports from ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)

An agreement favoring the activity of Chinese seaports

China-ASEAN free trade agreement was signed in January 2007 and entered into force on 1 July 2007. In addition, the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement (ASEAN-China) is applying by the LAC countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam) since the 1st January 2015.

China relies on several major ports to keep this maritime activity in constant evolution. Indeed, China has more than 2,000 ports, 130 of which are open to foreign ships. China has 16 major seaports with a capacity of more than 50 million tons per year. Amongst these, the port of Ningbo-Zhoushan, located in the Zhejiang Province, on the East China Sea coast, south of Hangzhou Bay.

Guangzhou’s port is also tremendous for the Chinese Import/ Export activities, we will detail it lower. This important traffic is largely due to the Canton Fair, which takes place twice a year (spring and autumn). This huge fair is co-sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce and the People’s Government of Guangdong, while China’s Foreign Trade Center oversees the organization.