Ministers meet the media: Highlights (9)

Ni Yuefeng, head of the General Administration of Customs, is interviewed at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, March 5, 2019. [Photo/Xinhua]

Govt cuts customs clearance time by over 50% in 2018: Ni Yuefeng

China has slashed the average time for customs clearance by over half in 2018, far surpassing the government's previous goal to cut the average time by one third, according to Ni Yuefeng, head of the General Administration of Customs.

"The robust growth of China's booming cross-border e-commerce has posed challenges to customs supervision," Ni said on Tuesday, during an interview from the sidelines of the two sessions.

To meet the new challenges, Chinese customs used the artificial intelligence technologies to help ease the clearance procedures. "In the next step, we will strengthen the supervision and improve the services," Ni said.