B[Ministry of Commerce: China and Switzerland will further reduce tariff levels on nearly 300 tax items based on the original agreement] On October 30, the head of the International Department of the Ministry of Commerce interpreted the protocol for upgrading the China-Switzerland Free Trade Agreement. In terms of market access for goods trade, the two sides have reached mutually beneficial and win-win high-level tariff reduction results, and will further reduce tariff levels between the two countries on the basis of the original free trade agreement. According to the latest tariff reduction arrangement, China and Switzerland will further reduce tariff levels on nearly 300 tax items based on the original agreement. The products that will eventually implement zero tariffs will cover more than 99% of the trade volume between the two parties. In terms of specific products, Sweden has canceled all tariffs on industrial products in the original agreement. In the upgrade protocol, it will further significantly open up the agricultural product market through the immediate implementation of zero tariffs or partial tax reductions, making its opening commitment to the highest level of external liberalization. China's key products such as oilseed kernels, vegetable oils, and pet food will enter the Swedish market with more preferential tariff treatment. On the basis of the original agreement, China will further grant preferential tariff treatment to Swiss products through the immediate implementation of zero tariffs or the implementation of zero tariffs during the transition period of 5 or 10 years. Swiss coffee, machine tools, watches and other products exported to China will gradually eliminate tariffs on the basis of partial or no tax reductions in the original agreement. B[The sixth meeting of the Joint Committee of the "China and Eurasian Economic Union Economic and Trade Cooperation Agreement" was held in Qingdao] On October 29, according to the official website of the Ministry of Commerce, the sixth meeting of the Joint Committee of the "China and the Eurasian Economic Union Economic and Trade Cooperation Agreement" was held in Qingdao. The meeting was co-chaired by Li Chenggang, Trade Negotiator of the People's Republic of China (at the ministerial level) and Vice Minister of Commerce, and Srepnev, Trade Commissioner of the Eurasian Economic Commission.
Li Chenggang said that the leaders of China and the Eurasian Economic Union member states attach great importance to the docking cooperation between the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" initiative and the alliance's strategic construction, jointly create favorable conditions for the healthy development of bilateral economy and trade, and contribute to the stability and prosperity of the global economy. Under the current situation, economic and trade cooperation between China and the Alliance has shown great resilience and great potential. China is willing to further promote the expansion of cooperation between the two sides in areas such as trade liberalization and facilitation on the basis of the existing content of the Agreement, and enhance the stability and resilience of regional production and supply chains. The two sides positively evaluated the results achieved in the implementation of the Agreement since the fifth Joint Committee meeting in November 2025, and agreed to continue to solidly promote the implementation of the Agreement and explore new areas and new directions for the development of economic and trade cooperation between the two parties.
The meeting reviewed the implementation of the "China-Eurasian Economic Union Economic and Trade Cooperation Plan (Roadmap)", exchanged in-depth opinions and reached many consensuses on topics such as trade liberalization and facilitation, trade remedies, technical supervision, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, customs cooperation, intellectual property rights, departmental cooperation, e-commerce, WTO cooperation and next-step work arrangements. After the meeting, both parties signed meeting minutes and updated the road map.
Representatives from the Eurasian Economic Commission and member states such as Russia and Belarus, as well as representatives from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the General Administration of Customs, the State Railway Administration, the Chamber of Commerce for Food and Soil, the Chamber of Commerce for Machinery and Electronics, and the National Railway Group attended the meeting. B[Deputy Mayor of Shanghai Lu Shan: A group of leading supply chain companies will be introduced to build an import supply chain network that links the world and radiates across the country] On October 16, the State Council Information Office held a press conference on the preparations for the 9th China International Import Expo. Shanghai Vice Mayor Lu Shan said at the meeting that Shanghai will play the role of the CIIE platform and actively expand imports. In the next step, we will strengthen the "system + carrier + supply chain" synergy. In terms of systems, combined with the demand for convenient customs clearance of animal and plant products, food and other special approval exhibits, quarantine access will be further accelerated and temporary entry exhibits will be efficiently converted into general trade imports; in terms of carriers, the capacity of the three national-level import trade promotion innovation demonstration zones of Waigaoqiao, Hongqiao and Huaihai Xintiandi will be further improved, and The online and offline transaction matching functions of the "365 Trade Exhibition Network" and the "6 Days + 365 Days" trading service platform will be upgraded to help more overseas small and medium-sized traders explore the Chinese market; in terms of supply chain, a number of leading supply chain companies will be introduced to improve global procurement and distribution functions, and build an import supply chain network that links the world and radiates across the country. Shanghai's expansion of imports is to better achieve "buying to the world, selling to the world, and benefiting the world" - that is, allowing good products from around the world to come in, sell well, and retain them, and also allow all countries to share the opportunities in China's large market. B[The three departments jointly issued the "Agricultural Brand Protection Special Action Implementation Plan (2026-2027)"] On October 9, in order to thoroughly implement the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, strengthen agricultural brand protection, severely crack down on infringement and illegal activities, create a fair and orderly market environment, boost consumer confidence, and protect farmers' interests, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the State Administration for Market Regulation, and the State Intellectual Property Office recently jointly issued the "Agricultural Brand Protection Special Action Implementation Plan (2026-2027)." This special operation has four key tasks:
The first is to strengthen the quality and safety supervision and law enforcement of brand primary agricultural products. Promote brand authorization management, establish a traceability system for the entire process of production, processing, and sales, and promote branded agricultural products to be the first to achieve full traceability, so that their sources can be traced, their destinations can be traced, and their responsibilities can be held accountable.
The second is to severely crack down on illegal activities in the field of agriculture-related trademarks and patents. Strictly investigate and punish illegal activities such as agricultural trademark infringement, geographical indication infringement, and counterfeit patents, strictly regulate the use of deceptive trademarks in the agricultural field and other behaviors that mislead the public, and investigate and punish violations of collective trademarks and certification trademark use management rules in accordance with the law.
The third is to severely crack down on unfair competition. Strictly crack down on unfair competition behaviors such as "free riding" and "famous brand", focusing on the unauthorized use of unique and similar names, packaging, decoration and other confusing behaviors such as well-known regional public brands and geographical indication brands, focusing on investigating and punishing operators who make false or misleading commercial publicity about their product performance, functions, quality, sales status, user evaluations, honors, etc., as well as behaviors that damage competitors through commercial slander and other means.
The fourth is to strengthen administrative protection of agricultural-related intellectual property rights. Support agricultural brand entities to strengthen the protection of brand rights and interests through multi-dimensional intellectual property layout such as trademarks, patents, geographical indications, and new plant varieties. Standardize trademark registration management to prevent and stop malicious registration. B[National Development and Reform Commission: Give full play to the policy underpinning role and will promptly launch the minimum grain purchase price implementation plan in qualified places] September 22nd, Li Chao, deputy director of the Policy Research Office of the National Development and Reform Commission, said at the National Development and Reform Commission’s September press conference on September 22 that in order to deal with risks and challenges such as El Niño, the next step, the National Development and Reform Commission will work with relevant departments to mainly do the following work. The first is to strengthen disaster monitoring and early warning, closely track the development trend of El Niño, assess risks and formulate plans by region and crop. At the same time, combined with the animal and plant protection capacity improvement project, continue to strengthen the monitoring, early warning and prevention and control capabilities of abnormal weather-related pests and diseases; second, consolidate the foundation of farmland water conservancy, continue to promote the construction of high-standard farmland, modernization of large and medium-sized irrigation areas, etc., coordinate the layout of drought-resistant water sources and drainage channels, and strengthen the connection between farmland construction and water conservancy facilities. The third is to strengthen scientific and technological support for the seed industry, continue to promote the modern seed industry improvement project, and support relevant seed industry bases to increase technical research and improve the supply capacity of high-quality varieties in response to low-temperature freeze damage, winter and spring droughts and other disasters. The fourth is to do a good job in market regulation, strengthen reserve throughput regulation and coordinated operation at all levels, make good use of policy grain resources, timely launch minimum purchase price execution plans in qualified places, and play a good role in supporting policies. B[Director of the General Administration of Customs, Sun Meijun, and South African Minister of Agriculture, Ocamp, co-chaired the ninth China-South Africa Ministerial Meeting on Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS)] September 9th. On the morning of September 8, Director General of the General Administration of Customs, Sun Meijun, and South African Minister of Agriculture, Ocamp, co-chaired the ninth China-South African Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Ministerial Meeting at the General Administration of Customs. The two sides exchanged in-depth views on implementing the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, strengthening customs inspection and quarantine cooperation, promoting the healthy development of agricultural and food trade between China and South Africa, and building a smart customs partnership, reached a series of consensuses, and signed cooperation documents. B[Jiangxi makes it clear: It is strictly prohibited to follow the trend of introducing Internet celebrity flowers and plants and laying non-functional lawns in large areas in urban greening] On September 5, the Jiangxi Provincial Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development recently issued the "Notice on Further Strengthening the Management of Urban Gardening and Greening", which will be made public on September 3, 2026. Among them, the notice requires that all localities should carry out greening construction in accordance with local conditions and capabilities based on local resource endowments, climatic conditions and economic affordability, and resolutely abandon practices that are eager for quick success and violate the laws of greening such as "making a landscape overnight". It is strictly prohibited to engage in image projects and face projects of landscaping that are divorced from reality; it is strictly prohibited to blindly introduce landscaping projects. Extravagant and wasteful behaviors such as planting exotic plants, following trends and introducing Internet-famous flowers and plants, using a large number of precious tree species, laying non-functional lawns and molded flower beds over large areas, excessively setting up trees for decorative lighting, etc. It is strictly prohibited to illegally occupy the supporting service facilities and venues of the park, and illegally set up private clubs based on the "garden within the garden" to infringe on public resources. A[United Nations agency: Sustained high temperatures and droughts in Europe and the United States are exacerbating pressure on forests] On August 29, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe issued a press release saying that in Europe and North America, continued severe droughts and record summer high temperatures are exacerbating the pressure on forest ecosystems. Data from the European Drought Observation Website, an agency affiliated with the European Union, shows that 50% of the EU and the UK are currently in drought, and the severe lack of precipitation has significantly affected soil moisture and forest health. Continued drought, high temperature stress, wildfire risk, combined with secondary disasters such as large-scale bark beetle outbreaks and plant diseases, are leading to unprecedented forest dieback in Europe. In Central and Western Europe, some areas are experiencing the longest and most persistent annual rainfall deficit in more than 60 years, causing widespread canopy defoliation and damage.
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