Import incubator further opens up global business

Yiwu in East China's Zhejiang province has recently built an import goods incubator in a bid to help innovate the patterns and functions of the city's international trade.

The incubator, which opened last week, is located in the core area of the Yiwu International Trade Comprehensive Reform Pilot Zone, which covers 120,000 square meters.

The pilot zone, which was approved by the provincial government in January, indicates the city has entered a new development stage, local officials said.

The incubator is connected via a convenient transport network and is only 3.8 kilometers away from the station for the Yiwu-Madrid freight train, the longest China-Europe freight train route.

It also borders several highways and is less than 5 km away from Yiwu Airport and a cargo railway station.

It is home to 190 trade entities including well-known domestic cross-border web outlets such as Net-Ease Kaola, Yansuan and Wandou, as well as 34 national pavilions from Europe, the United States, Southeast Asia and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.

Some 150,000 kinds of goods produced in more than 150 countries and regions are on offer there, ranging from red wine, food, daily necessities, cosmetics to kitchenware, housewares and home building materials.

The incubator focuses on bonded services by innovating new ways of transacting business.

It aims to provide a strong policy guarantee and enlarged channels to bolster the city's import industry.

Digitalization is another highlight of the incubator. It applied new systems related to public and private display screens meaning that people can access more information more easily, such as information about commodities.

Through these screens, buyers can closely follow market trends, discounts and bonded information in real time.

The incubator has also undertaken an initiative to create a characteristic administrative and business environment.

It helped several departments including customs and tax to set up an integrated service platform.

It has also experimented with a new talent introduction policy, which offers targeted and tailormade services to trade entities in terms of housing, financing and children's education.

In addition to commodity trading, the incubator has space for entertainment, catering and a children's playground.

haonan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 11/20/2019 page16)