China's first airport-based bonded logistics centre will begin operation in
the first quarter of next year and is expected to make Beijing an important
Northeast Asian air cargo transportation hub.
The bonded area is a key part of a 3-square-kilometre airport logistics park
to be completed by the end of next year. The Beijing Airport City Logistics Park
will involve a total investment of 3.6 billion yuan (US$456 million).
"The logistics park, together with the ongoing third expansion of the Beijing
airport, will serve the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games," said Desmond Shum, chief
executive officer of the Airport City Logistics Park Co Ltd (ACL). ACL is
responsible for planning, developing and managing the park.
The logistics park is expected to improve the cargo transport competitiveness
of the Beijing Capital International Airport, challenging South Korea's Incheon
and Tokyo's Narita airports.
"Beijing could rank No 1 in terms of air transport connectivity in major
airports of Northeast Asia, but it falls behind airports in South Korea and
Japan in terms of cargo transportation," said Shum, indicating the main reasons
are scattered logistics-related services, complicated customs clearance
procedures and labour inefficiency.
South Korea's Incheon International Airport handled 2.15 million tons of
cargo last year and was ranked the fifth-largest cargo airport by the Airports
Council International. But more than half of the cargo, of which China was a
major source, did not come from South Korea and was transferred to other parts
of the world via Incheon.
Beijing airport transported 782,066 tons of cargo last year.
"We want to bring that cargo back," Shum said.
The logistics park, located at the north end of the airport's second runway,
has five functional areas: a bonded zone, cargo terminals, an express cargo
centre, an import/export air cargo customs surveillance zone and a comprehensive
office complex.
The bonded zone, the first to begin operation, is like a free port in which
imported goods can be held or processed free of customs duties before they are
re-exported.
The logistics park will provide "one-stop customs clearance" for companies
doing international trade, ACL said. It aims to help goods flow more smoothly by
reducing red tape and setting up efficient co-ordination mechanisms among
foreign trade-related agencies in customs, quarantine, warehousing,
transportation and financial services.
Shum said the Chinese Government's initiative to create a new economic growth
engine in North China rivalling Shenzhen and Shanghai brings unprecedented
opportunities and will generate huge cargo traffic for Beijing airport.
Analysts said the airport logistics park would serve as an engine for the
economic growth of Beijing.
"The logistics park would directly create 7.4 billion yuan (US$937 million)
in gross domestic product (GDP) for Beijing and the airport-related economy
would contribute 5.49 per cent of Beijing's GDP in 2015," said Zhang Junkuo, a
senior researcher at the Development Research Centre of the State Council.
ACL is a joint venture between Capital Airports Holding Co (CAH) and the
Shunyi district government.
CAH, the biggest shareholder in Beijing airport, is China's largest airport
group.
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