Yangtze region shaping up in attempt to unify clearance and increase commerce
Customs clearance in the Yangtze River Delta economic zone's main cities will be unified by the end of the year to boost the region's position as a world-class logistics centre.
The move to unify customs procedures in Shanghai, Nanjing Hangzhou and Ningbo was part of a blueprint on customs reforms endorsed by the two-day Yangtze River Delta Cities Economic Co-ordination Committee meeting on Saturday, Xinhua reported yesterday.
Mainland companies exporting goods to other parts of the country are now required to have customs clear their goods twice - where the firm is based and where the goods are being exported to.
But under a new integrated computerised system, a Yangtze delta company can choose to have its goods cleared at any of the four cities. Clearance at the goods' collection or dispatch point would not be necessary, the report said.
For example, it is estimated that for an air shipment between the Jiangsu Industrial Park and the Shanghai checkpoint, the time needed to clear customs will be reduced from 30 to 24 hours, and logistics costs cut by 30 per cent.