The total import and export volume in China (Guangdong) Pilot Free Trade Zone Qianhai & Shekou Area of Shenzhen reached 94.37 billion yuan (US$13.47 billion) in the first half of this year, up 26.2 percent from the same period last year.
In particular, the volume of Qianhaiwan Free Trade Port Area was 86.82 billion yuan in H1, up by 61.5 percent year-on-year, data from Shenzhen Customs showed.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, Shenzhen Customs implemented a package of incentives to stimulate exports, including handling Certificate of Origin applications online, one-stop service through Internet and financial relief measures such as tax exemption, reduction, refund and deferred payment of taxes.
The simplified customs declaration procedures save trade companies time and money, hence attracting an increasing number of businesses to do import and export through Qianhai.
By the end of this June, the number of enterprises that registered businesses in Qianhai & Shekou free trade area customs had reached 9,410, including 722 newly registered businesses in H1 that was triple the number in the same period of last year.
In cross-border e-commerce trade, Qianhai Customs upgraded business modes and helped forge a whole-chain e-commerce service. In January, customs launched the supervision of returned goods under cross-border e-commerce. In April, it piloted direct purchases under cross-border e-commerce. In July, it piloted B2B (Business-to-Business) exports under cross-border e-commerce trade that drastically increased export amounts.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many shops of China Duty Free Group at checkpoints were closed, but the services at distribution centers of duty-free products in Qianhai provided a platform for the company’s import and export business. The company started business in Qianhai this May, and within two months, its exports, starting from scratch, had grown exponentially. Shenzhen Duty Free Group will set up a warehouse in Qianhai to engage in global procurement.
Shekou Customs also launched a number of innovative measures to promote the speed and efficiency of customs clearance in the port area, such as the two-step customs declaration mode and cross-port allocation of barges that shortened customs clearance process by up to six hours on average.
In the first half of this year, cross-border e-commerce volume at Shekou Customs increased by 250 percent to 13.35 billion yuan.