Shanghai has been vigorously developing its biopharmaceutical industry, with huge demand for the import of special items for research and development every year.

To help biomedical companies address bottlenecks in the import process, Pudong New Area launched a reform pilot featuring joint supervision and facilitated customs clearance.

As of June 2025, the pilot program had completed risk assessments and customs clearance reviews for 27 batches of special items imported and exported by 16 companies.

Zhangjiang · Pharma Valley of China in Pudong New Area, Shanghai. [Photo/WeChat ID: pdnews]

In July 2020, Shanghai Customs and Pudong New Area jointly launched a pilot program for optimizing the quarantine of imported special items in Zhangjiang Science City. A joint supervision mechanism for the security of imported special items was established, with multi-departmental collaborative management covering key stages such as scientific research, production, storage, and port entry.

In addition, a "whitelist" mechanism was implemented, allowing high-quality enterprises with decent credit to submit an annual plan on entry and use of special items. Once approved, these enterprises can directly import goods in batches in accordance with their confirmed annual plans.

In October 2023, the pilot program was further expanded, upgrading from the "whitelist" model to a conditional management framework, enabling all qualified enterprises in Pudong to apply. Concurrently, the scope of multiple aspects was broadened, including the range of special items and their applicable fields.

Participating enterprises include R&D outsourcing companies such as Labcorp and foreign-funded entities like Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche.

According to Accurant Biotech in Shanghai, a participant enterprise, the program has brought significant convenience to CRO companies like itself, which are highly dependent on international cooperation, effectively resolving the difficult task of efficient import and transfer of biomedical materials.

This program is expected to help enterprises in Pudong further enhance their scientific research, accelerate new drug development, and promote clinical transformation.