Data from Chinese customs shows that from January to July this year, trade between China and other APEC economies reached 18.03 trillion yuan, a 21% increase year-on-year. As the latest round of technological revolution advances, China continues to deepen the integration of big data, artificial intelligence, and other emerging technologies into customs supervision, using technology to steadily enhance APEC economic and trade cooperation. Recently, the APEC customs event series hosted by China Customs was held in Dalian, Liaoning, as a key component of the third APEC Senior Officials' Meeting. During the event, smart customs construction and AI-empowered cross-border trade supervision became hot topics.
How will digital technology break through cross-border trade bottlenecks and make the Asia-Pacific supply chain safer, more stable, and more efficient? Our reporter interviewed relevant experts.
Underwater robots conducting full-body inspections of cargo ships, big data algorithms creating corporate profiles — institutional innovation and technology empowerment boost trade facilitation
During the third APEC Senior Officials' Meeting for 2026, a dedicated exhibition area was arranged for the Smart Customs Partnership Plan and intelligent supervision equipment, showcasing multiple domestically produced intelligent systems. For instance, the "Octopus" underwater robot can dive to depths of 300 meters to complete comprehensive precision inspections of a cargo vessel. Previously, manual diving was limited to depths of only 15 to 20 meters, offering limited detection range, blind spots in inspection, and higher operational risks.
The Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) system is an institutional framework advocated by the World Customs Organization aimed at promoting global trade security and facilitation. Currently, all APEC economies except Papua New Guinea have established and implemented AEO programs, and China Customs has achieved AEO mutual recognition with 10 of these economies. In recent years, China Customs has leveraged new technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence to unlock the benefits of the AEO system, allowing law-abiding enterprises to clear customs faster and at lower cost.
Expert Analysis
Zhu Caihua, Professor at the School of Economics at the University of International Business and Economics and Director of the Global Open Source Collaboration Research Center: China Customs' smart supervision system empowering the AEO framework represents a practical integration of digital governance and institutional opening. Its core value lies not only in customs clearance facilitation but also in transforming the individual advantages of highly creditworthy enterprises into systemic resilience for regional supply chains, providing a pathway for APEC to achieve inclusive and sustainable trade growth.
First, the accelerated release of "institutional dividends" through AEO international mutual recognition helps activate the vitality of microeconomic entities. China's AEO mutual recognition with 10 APEC economies not only significantly reduces compliance costs and improves clearance efficiency for relevant enterprises, but also grants them access to credit incentive measures from market regulation, taxation, banking, and other departments. This enhances enterprise competitiveness and strengthens the stickiness of cross-border industrial chains.
Second, it creates significant demonstration and forcing effects on other enterprises. On one hand, the high efficiency gained by AEO enterprises directly translates into cost advantages, forcing other enterprises to benchmark against AEO standards through digital transformation and compliance management, proactively aligning with high-credit standards. On the other hand, leading chain enterprises with AEO qualifications tend to select equally compliant and reliable upstream and downstream partners, establishing a "trust threshold" in the supply chain—thereby driving credit improvement across the entire industrial chain through chain-based transmission.
Li Yong, Associate Researcher at the General Administration of Customs Research Center: These measures represent China Customs' vivid practice of the "Smart Customs, Smart Borders, Smart Connectivity" cooperation concept, and serve as beneficial exploration of promoting trade facilitation through institutional innovation and technology empowerment. They provide replicable and scalable solutions for Asia-Pacific regional customs cooperation. China Customs continues to promote the empowerment of customs operations through "AI + big data + intelligent equipment," with the smart, automated, precise, and efficient customs supervision model continuously improving. For example, the corporate profiling system developed using big data algorithms not only facilitates precise customs supervision but also helps enterprises accurately align with international certification requirements, laying the foundation for promoting international mutual recognition.
The AEO system is crucial for maintaining supply chain security and stability while boosting economic vitality. Compared to regular enterprises, AEO enterprises see average import clearance times reduced by more than 30%. AEO international mutual recognition not only improves clearance efficiency for highly creditworthy enterprises but also directly shortens the turnover cycle of raw materials, parts, and finished goods along the Asia-Pacific supply chain, enhancing the resilience of the entire production network. Furthermore, the cross-border credit cooperation bridge built on the AEO system deepens mutual regulatory trust between China and Asia-Pacific customs authorities, laying a solid foundation for future innovation in regional trade security and facilitation.
Automated equipment like "climbing robots" transforms "people finding goods" into "goods finding people" — driving quality upgrades across the cross-border e-commerce logistics industry
In recent years, driven by digitalization, e-commerce has become a new growth point for Asia-Pacific regional economic development. In 2025, e-commerce transaction volumes across APEC economies maintained rapid growth, benefiting tens of millions of small and medium-sized enterprises and billions of consumers. Meanwhile, cross-border e-commerce faces trade barrier impacts from certain countries. Enterprises are becoming an important force in AI technology innovation. For example, some companies have developed and applied AI customs systems that enable intelligent product classification, dynamic tax rate calculation, and compliance admission verification, compressing single-shipment clearance time by 80%. The development of "climbing robots," "four-way shuttle matrixes," and other warehousing automation products has set new records in operational efficiency.
Expert Analysis
Li Yong: AI and digitalization are driving systematic upgrades in cross-border e-commerce logistics across three dimensions: customs clearance, warehousing, and full-chain collaboration. From the perspective of APEC regional cooperation, improving digital collaboration and mutual recognition requires coordinated efforts in four areas. First, strengthening top-level design, using the cooperation document "APEC Customs Promoting Technology and Innovation for Trade Security and Facilitation" as guidance to translate technical consensus into concrete actions. Second, advancing standard alignment by promoting the standardization of customs data formats, declaration elements, and electronic documents across economies, gradually achieving data sharing and mutual recognition. Third, deepening capacity building through the Smart Customs Partnership Plan, helping developing economies bridge the digital divide and enhance digital customs construction capabilities. Fourth, strengthening technical collaboration in AI, big data, and large language models, deepening cooperation in risk warning and regulatory enforcement.
Zhu Caihua: Enterprise-level innovation represented by AI and digitalization is driving quality upgrades in the cross-border e-commerce logistics industry from three dimensions: "efficiency, compliance, and model." In terms of efficiency, technological innovation represented by AI and digitalization is driving efficiency gains by compressing time and space distances. In terms of compliance, AI systems can dynamically calculate tax rates and conduct compliance admission verification, effectively addressing the complex trade rules of various countries, transforming enterprises from "passive compliance" to "proactive intelligent compliance" and reducing trade risks. In terms of model, logistics enterprises are optimizing the global logistics infrastructure network by establishing and building robotic warehousing facilities overseas, exporting verified technology as standardized products.
The key to accelerating the application of AI intelligent systems lies in the coordinated development of technological connectivity and institutional connectivity. At the technological level, digital infrastructure interconnectivity should be strengthened, creating an environment conducive to AI innovation—particularly promoting AI technology inclusiveness and capacity building, narrowing the digital divide, and focusing on the application of AI intelligent systems in packaging, transportation, warehousing, and customs clearance. At the institutional level, openness and cooperation in rules, regulations, management, and standards should be enhanced, focusing on promoting mutual recognition of electronic trade documents, AEO mutual recognition, and cross-border digital identity recognition.
From "multi-faceted interconnectivity" to "digital-intelligent mutual recognition" — empowering the Asia-Pacific community through digital and AI technologies
This year marks the "APEC China Year," with China identifying three priority areas: openness, innovation, and cooperation. In the "innovation" area, China has proposed adhering to innovation-driven development, focusing on reaching more consensus in AI and digital economy, bridging the digital divide, and cultivating new quality productive forces. The APEC Sub-Committee on Customs Procedures has previously reviewed and approved China's initiative cooperation document "APEC Customs Promoting Technology and Innovation for Trade Security and Facilitation," calling on all parties to actively embrace new technologies and jointly optimize cross-border trade clearance and supervision processes.
Expert Analysis
Li Yong: Currently, the Asia-Pacific region accounts for one-third of the world's population, over 60% of the global economy, and nearly half of global trade, making it an important engine of world economic growth. For APEC parties to implement the annual theme of "Building the Asia-Pacific Community with a Shared Future for Common Prosperity," the three priority areas of openness, innovation, and cooperation must be advanced as an integrated whole, achieving mutual reinforcement in practical implementation. Upholding openness and opposing protectionism, advancing trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, exploring pathways for a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, and smooth cross-border flows of various factors—these not only provide application markets for innovation outcomes but also lay a solid economic foundation for cooperation. Deepening cooperation and strengthening policy alignment and practical collaboration in fiscal and financial affairs, food security, and small and medium-sized enterprises—this both removes institutional barriers, ensures the implementation of opening measures, and builds collaboration platforms for the regional promotion of innovation outcomes. Unleashing innovation momentum in turn forces upgrades to opening and cooperation models, breaks through traditional trade bottlenecks, and enhances the quality and efficiency of regional practical cooperation.
Zhu Caihua: Currently, the extensive replicable experiences formed by APEC parties should be transformed into a common action framework, driving the Asia-Pacific region from "multi-faceted interconnectivity" toward "digital-intelligent mutual recognition," empowering the Asia-Pacific community through digital and AI technologies. First, building consensus on AI and digital economy and establishing a unified regional rule framework. Building on the "APEC AI Initiative (2026-2030)" and the "2026 APEC Digital and AI Ministerial Statement," consensus should be continuously consolidated, opposing discriminatory regulation of AI technology and promoting alignment of cross-border data flow rules.
Second, bridging the digital divide through practical actions to achieve inclusive AI sharing. The extension of new infrastructure such as 5G, computing hubs, and 10-gigabit optical networks to less developed economies should be accelerated, lowering the threshold for AI service access. Capacity building should be strengthened through initiatives like the APEC Citizen AI Literacy Enhancement Action and SME AI Training Programs, supporting regional sharing of open-source AI models and lightweight AI applications to lower the AI development threshold for developing economies.
Third, cultivating regional new quality productive forces through application scenario traction. In trade facilitation scenarios, mutual recognition of trade documents such as electronic bills of lading and electronic invoices should be deepened, with AI-powered customs declaration and risk prediction systems integrated into "single windows," combined with the widely covered AEO customs credit mutual recognition mechanism, to significantly improve regional supply chain operational efficiency. In industrial collaboration scenarios, integrated innovation among large, medium, and small enterprises should be promoted, creating a batch of cross-border benchmark cases in intelligent manufacturing, cross-border logistics, and agricultural intelligent monitoring.