As China's sole special comprehensive bonded zone, the Yangshan Free Trade Zone (FTZ), located within Shanghai's Lin-gang Special Area, has emerged as a significant hub for international trade and logistics, making remarkable achievements since its establishment in May 2020.

Yangshan FTZ leads the way in customs reforms. [Photo/lingang.gov.cn]

Over the past five years, the zone has recorded a cumulative 1.05 trillion yuan ($146 billion) in foreign trade, with a compound annual growth rate of 22 percent, positioning it as the fourth-ranked special regulatory area in the latest national performance assessment.

In the first four months of this year alone, Yangshan FTZ achieved a record 102.62 billion yuan in imports and exports, a 16.1-percent year-on-year increase.

One of the zone's standout innovations is an expedited customs clearance policy that allows for the direct clearance of goods that do not require permits or inspections. The policy has boosted the automobile bonded transshipment business by integrating RFID technology and vehicle identification numbers (VINs), enabling "no-stop inspection and release" of unlicensed vehicles.

Furthermore, the Yangshan FTZ has leveraged innovative models such as coastal transshipment and linked unloading to establish a highly efficient and synergistic logistics network with port clusters in the Yangtze River Delta and Bohai Economic Circle regions, providing robust logistical support for businesses within the zone.

From January to March this year, Yangshan Customs handled 2,664 coastal transshipment operations, involving 27,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), up 54.1 percent and 84.2 percent year-on-year, respectively.