The second draft of the revised Foreign Trade Law further supports the development of digital trade and green trade.

The draft amendment of the Foreign Trade Law was submitted for its second review at the meeting of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on December 22nd. The second draft of the amendment includes provisions to support and encourage the development of digital trade, accelerate the establishment of a green trade system, and introduce several other regulations. The development of digital trade and green trade is an important focus for promoting innovation in trade. The "14th Five-Year Plan" proposed expanding intermediate goods trade and green trade, as well as innovating and developing digital trade and expanding openness in the digital field. The Central Economic Work Conference held recently also emphasized active development of digital trade and green trade. The second draft of the amendment adds provisions such as promoting the construction of a cross-border financial service system according to the needs of foreign trade development, supporting the digital development of foreign trade, facilitating international mutual recognition of digital certificates, electronic signatures, and enhancing the level of trade facilitation, promoting the construction of product standards, certification, and labeling systems related to green trade, supporting and promoting the talent development for foreign trade to provide talent support for high-quality development of foreign trade. In order to further reflect the deployment and requirements of the Party Central Committee on the high-quality development of foreign trade, the second draft of the amendment adds relevant provisions such as promoting the construction of a trade power, maintaining a fair and just international economic trade order, supporting the improvement of the function and service level of trade promotion platforms, etc. The second draft of the amendment also makes provisions for international trade in services, foreign trade relief, clarifying common service trade models, encouraging the implementation of international trade in various forms such as cross-border delivery, overseas consumption, commercial presence, and movement of natural persons. In response to trade risks and changes in the trade environment, the amendment also stipulates that relevant governmental departments can establish trade adjustment aid systems in accordance with the rules of the World Trade Organization. Considering the scale and characteristics of many small and micro enterprises among foreign trade operators, the provisions related to fines in the draft amendment have been modified accordingly, without specifying the minimum fine amount, to facilitate the accurate application by the competent authorities based on the specific circumstances of each case.