New bonded area in Shanghai to further boost opening-up

Yangshan Special Comprehensive Bonded Area was officially unveiled on Saturday, marking another major step forward in China in terms of a deepened and overall opening-up.

Located in the Lingang Special Area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, Yangshan was approved by the State Council on Jan 17 to be upgraded into a special comprehensive bonded area, which is the only one of its kind in the country up to this date.

According to Li Guo, deputy head of the General Administration of Customs, a special supervision guideline has been drafted for the Yangshan Special Comprehensive Bonded Area to implement opening-up policies and mechanisms which are competitive worldwide.

To that end, unnecessary trade supervision, permits or processes will be eliminated while taking safety and efficiency as the top priority.

The declaration system should be simplified to the greatest extent so that management freedom will become a highlight of the area, said Li.

Meanwhile, the statistical methods of customs will be upgraded to make more room for the development of international transfer services.

Chen Zhenchong, director of the FTZ and special area development department of the General Administration of Customs, further explained that the imported goods can directly enter the Yangshan Special Comprehensive Bonded Area as long as they abide by laws and regulations and no special inspections or quarantine are involved.

In this sense, companies located in Yangshan can directly pick up and deliver goods.

Companies based in Yangshan will operate based on the rule of self-discipline, exempted from extra inspections. A public information service platform started operation on Saturday to collect customs data automatically, said Chen.

Covering a total of 25.31 square kilometers, Yangshan Special Comprehensive Bonded Area combines Yangshan Deep-water Port, which is the world's largest container port, as well as Pudong International Airport, which is the world's third-largest airfreight airport.

In this sense, value-added international shipping services, and an airplane industrial cluster will be two focus areas of Yangshan's development plan. Integrated circuits, intelligent manufacturing, biomedicine and cross-border e-commerce will also feature in the development of the area, said Chen Yin, director of Lingang's administrative committee.

A total of 18 projects were officially launched in Yangshan on Saturday. The local administration is also reaching for cross-border finance, trade, high-end manufacturing and platform service companies to settle their projects down in Yangshan.

An industrial development plan for Yangshan will be released soon, said Chen.