The Dream Factory of China

Sixteen containers of 320 tons of Chilean cherries was directly lifted from an express cargo ship to a trailer arranged by the cargo’s owner after the ship arrived at the Shekou Port on Jan. 10. The cargo left the port in five minutes and arrived at the fruit storage yard in Qianhai in 10 minutes, satisfying residents’ demand for fresh cherries during the Spring Festival.

Fruit that has been declared in advance can be picked up from the ship by the cargo’s owner and transported out of the port without inspection. This is an important measure recently implemented by Shenzhen Customs at Shekou Port to improve the port's business environment and promote trade facilitation, which is expected to help Qianhai build a new imported fruit sales model, promoting Qianhai to become a high-quality collection and distribution center for imported fruits in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

In recent years, domestic consumption of imported fruit has increased significantly. Due to the long transportation distance, the limitation on the number of trailers and the technical requirements for food preservation, and the retail price of imported cherries remains high.

In order to improve the efficiency of customs clearance and meet residents’ demand for imported fruit, Shekou Customs has launched the innovative measures of "two-step declaration" and "direct cargo pick-up from the ship," greatly improving the speed of customs clearance and reducing the cost of imported fruit.

A general manager of Shenzhen Asia Global Logistics Co. Ltd. surnamed Zhang said that compared with the traditional model, this innovative model greatly shortens the customs clearance process, by four to six hours on average, and logistics companies can achieve seamless cargo collection and delivery.

According to Shekou Customs, about 4,000 yuan can be saved on each container imported through Shekou Port. Additionally, the Qianhai storage yard, which is a 10-minute drive from Shekou Port, has the ability to distribute fresh fruit nationwide. The yard will serve as a hub for imported fruit and attract more distributors to choose to import fruit through Shekou Port.