BRICS countries to deepen cooperation on intelligent customs

Officials from BRICS countries have agreed to deepen cooperation on intelligent customs at a virtual meeting of the five-member bloc.

China, which is this year's chair of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) grouping, is scheduled to hold the annual summit.

Against current risks and challenges, the participants at the meeting pledged to ensure that the customs authorities of BRICS countries continue to work together to safeguard the international supply chain and promote rapid economic and trade recovery among BRICS countries, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Customs cooperation between the BRICS countries has seen fruitful results since the establishment of the cooperation mechanism in 2013, while bilateral trade has maintained steady growth, said Sun Yuning, deputy head of the General Administration of Customs of China.

China's bilateral trade with the BRICS countries totalled USD 490.42 billion in 2021, up 39.2 per cent year-on-year, higher than the overall level of China's foreign trade in the same period, official data shows, according to Xinhua.

All parties should gradually improve the intelligence level of customs infrastructure, supervision methods and administrative management, and form cross-border coordinated governance among border administration departments, Sun said.