The Dream Factory of China

Source :Shenzhen Daily

The total import and export volume in Qianhai reached 861.5 billion yuan (US$133.07 billion) in the first seven months of this year, up by 47.2 percent year-on-year. Accounting for only 0.06 percent of Shenzhen’s land area, Qianhai contributed 6.4 percent of the city’s total import and export trade volume last year. What are the secrets behind the staggering numbers for Qianhai?

The trade volume increase was attributed to the growth of cross-border e-commerce, which was in turn benefited from the implementation of a series of innovative customs facilitation measures and incentives jointly launched by the Shenzhen Customs and the Qianhai authority to support exports, streamline the customs clearance procedures and optimize custom supervision.

The MCC (multi-country consolidation) logistics service in Qianhai has provided huge conveniences to and reduced warehouse costs for the cross-border e-commerce companies. The service offers one-stop cargo collection, transfer and distribution, and cargo consolidation in Qianhai. Since the service was launched in 2018, a total of 22,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent unit) of goods worth 15.61 billion yuan have been consolidated and distributed in Qianhai.

Qianhai has also set up an outbound airfreight center. Enterprises can complete the collection, distribution, build-up, transportation and security check of goods within a special restricted area. Air cargo can be freely circulated between the bonded zone and other aviation hubs such as the Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Guangzhou airports, saving time and money for import and export companies.

YHGlobal（Yuehai）, a national five-A rating logistics company and the first unicorn company in the global logistics supply chain industry, is among the first batch of enterprises that settled in the Qianhai Comprehensive Bonded Zone in 2008. According to Su Baoyin, Yuehai’s general manager, the location advantage of Qianhai’s proximity to Hong Kong is the main reason for the company to chose Qianhai.

“The overseas warehouse of our company is located in Hong Kong and many of our imported goods are shipped to Hong Kong. We can realize fast two-way customs clearance between Hong Kong and Shenzhen in the Qianhai Comprehensive Bonded Zone,” Su said.

Last year, despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company achieved revenue of 5.98 billion yuan, and its import and export volume was US$12.69 billion, a year-on-year increase of 32 percent, making huge contribution to that of Qianhai.

Meanwhile, other innovative measures have also promoted the speed and efficiency of customs clearance in the bonded zone, such as the two-step customs declaration mode and cross-port allocation of barges.

Under the two-step declaration mode, trading companies are allowed to ship goods out of the bonded area after submitting just nine types of required materials; they then complete a full declaration within 14 days. The move gives companies enough time to double check their declaration materials and avoid making alterations to information afterwards.

This two-step declaration process has drastically shortened the customs clearance process by up to six hours on average. Importers can also save on daily operational costs of about 500 yuan per container imported through Shekou Port.

The simplified customs declaration procedures and seamless export process save trade companies time and money, hence attracting an increasing number of businesses to import and export through Qianhai.

According to Hao Lei, vice section chief of the third Qianhai supervision division of the Shekou Customs, a whole cross-border e-commerce chain of “purchasing, displaying, selling and refunding” has formed in the bonded zone. A number of well-established brands including Xiaomi, ZTE, DJI and Huawei, have set up warehouses or operated their business in the bonded zone.