51,000 firms benefit from domestic customs reform along Silk Road belt

QINGDAO - More than 51,000 enterprises have benefited from the unified customs clearance reform in Chinese provinces along the Silk Road Economic Belt, said customs authorities on Tuesday.

Some 1.2 million declarations have been handled by customs in the nine provinces along the Belt since the customs reform was introduced on May 1, according to statistics with the Qingdao Customs in Shandong.

An increasing number of companies enjoy more efficient service, which can cut their customs costs by 20 to 30 percent.

"The integrated customs reform has achieved expected results," said Dong Yan, deputy head of the Qingdao Customs, while vowing to deepen the reform at a review meeting.

The reform has also boosted the rapid growth of cross-border e-commerce, he added. By the end of June, domestic customs along the Belt handled cargo valued 105 million yuan ($17 million) worth of cross-border e-commerce.

China launched its customs clearance reform last year to simplify formalities and reduce logistics costs in regions such as Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

All imported and exported goods enjoy simplified procedures through the regional integrated clearance system, which will require only one customs declaration.

With faster goods clearance and transportation, the move is expected to provide a strong impetus to China's sluggish foreign trade.

Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed the Silk Road Economic Belt in 2013 as an overland network focused on boosting international trade and cooperation on infrastructure projects with Central, South and West Asian countries and Europe.