New regional customs clearance policy facilitates e-commerce

The first impact of a recently introduced unified regional customs clearance service along the Silk Road Economic Belt is emerging in unlikely sectors. E-commerce companies proved to be the initial benefactors of the system introduced by a total of nine provinces and autonomous regions in China, including Gansu province.

A batch of cargo belonging to a cross-border e-commerce company in Zhengzhou, Henan province, were cleared at the Huangdao port, Qingdao, Shandong province on May 6, marking the first clearance for bonded e-commercial commodities since the introduction of the integrated regional customs clearance policy on May 1.

The integrated customs clearance reform will pave the way for further e-commerce development, said an official at the Qingdao customs.

The unified regional customs clearance system allows goods and products cleared at one customs point to freely move between the other eight provinces and autonomous regions that sign up to the system. The policy applies to 10 customs houses in nine provinces and regions along the Silk Road Economic Belt, including Qingdao and Jinan in Shandong, Zhengzhou in Henan, Taiyuan in Shanxi, Xi'an in Shaanxi, Lanzhou in Gansu, Xining in Qinghai, Yinchuan in Ningxia Hui autonomous region, Urumqi in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, and Lhasa in Tibet autonomous region.

Under the new policy, all export and import products that go through any customs within nine provinces and autonomous regions along the Silk Road Economic Belt will enjoy simplified procedures through the regional integrated clearance system that will require only one single customs declaration.

"Thanks to the integrated customs clearance policy, we only needed to declare the goods at the Zhengzhou customs, which saved a lot of time and logistics costs," said the general manager of the Henan e-commerce company.

Previously, enterprises had to declare imported goods at the customs office of the port of arrival first to be followed by a second declaration at the local customs for full clearance.

The 10 customs houses have also signed a cooperation agreement to support and increase trade such as cross-border e-commerce businesses and serve the Silk Road economies.

Edited by Mevlut Katik