An employee processes orders at the Taobao Global Official Warehouse in the Waigaoqiao Bonded Area in Pudong on Sept 16. [Photo/WeChat account: pdnews]

Taobao Global, part of Taobao, the largest online shopping portal in China, opened its official cross-border bonded warehouse in the Waigaoqiao Bonded Area in Pudong on Sept 16.

The warehouse, located at No 255 North Riying Road, is only a 60-minute drive from the Yangshan Deep-Water Port, a 30-min drive from Pudong International Airport, and a 15-min drive from the Waigaoqiao Port.

It is the only warehouse in Waigaoqiao to be verified through the ISO27001 information security management system and is capable of handling more than 5,000 orders per day.

According to Cai Jun, head of the warehouse, the warehouse is capable of shipping out goods within three hours after costumers place their orders. If costumers in Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang provinces place their orders in the morning, they may well receive their goods that very day.

What makes it different from an ordinary bonded warehouse?

Wu Peng, deputy general manager of Shanghai Waigaoqiao International Trade Operation Center Co, said that the warehouse, thanks to its partnership with Taobao, is entitled to offer services for the entire supply chain, including overseas transportation, declaration, storage, delivery, and distribution, for cross-border businesses.

"Our system is connected to Taobao, allowing all information and logistics to be managed from within and ensuring information security," said Wu.

As online trading becomes more and more important, an increasing number of companies are joining the cross-border e-commerce sector to explore overseas markets.

Statistics show that the bonded area (excluding the former Yangshan Bonded Port Area) reported over 6.3 million cross-border e-commerce orders from January to June, up 37.75 percent year on year. Total revenue surpassed 1.96 billion yuan ($284 million), up 58.15 percent and accounting for 50.73 percent of Shanghai's total.