Three containers carrying 32 tons of products were transported from Jiujiang Port in the city of Foshan on Monday and were loaded on a shipping vessel at Shekou Port without going through the second customs check under the combo port service program.
The shipment of 32 tons of nonwoven fabrics and PVC (polyvinyl chloride) films also marked the official operation of the Shekou-Jiujiang Combo Port program.
Jiujiang in Nanhai, Foshan is a town known in Guangdong Province for its manufacturing industry. It is the first town in Guangdong that introduced enterprises engaged in processing imported raw materials, manufacturing products according to imported samples and assembling imported parts. Now, the town is home to dozens of world-famous brands in furniture, textile, garment and metal products.
The combo customs service at Shekou Port and Jiujiang Port is part of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Combo Port Project.
The project enables ports along rivers and other coasts under different customs administrations to share shipping codes and be dispatched without delays. Nanhai Beautiful Nonwoven Fabrics Co. Ltd. is the first enterprise to benefit from the combo port program. Its products have been sold in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.
“The simplified customs procedures shorten customs clearance time and logistics. It used to take about five to seven days for transshipment, but now its needs only one to two days. Operation costs can be reduced by 30 percent,” Tan Sumei, an employee with Nanhai Beautiful Nonwoven Fabrics Co. Ltd., said.
Due to river navigation and bridge restrictions, oceanic vessels cannot enter the ports along the Pearl River estuary. Previously, the cargos needed to be carried by barges to the Shenzhen western terminals for customs transshipment, whose formalities take time.
The first project under the combo port service program was initiated in Xingang, Shunde in November last year. The products from Shunde, after completing customs procedures, were directly sent to Shekou Port. In March this year, the Shekou-Beijiao Combo Port project was implemented.
Through the combo port service, a total of 17,800 TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) have been handled between Shekou and the two ports in Shunde, Foshan. Around 85 percent of the TEUs have been handled through the combined port service.
Shenzhen Customs will expand the Combo Port Program in the Greater Bay Area and apply blockchain, IoT and 5G technologies in its program.
