Since its official launch on June 18, 2014, the China (Shanghai) International Trade Single Window has emerged as the world's largest data processing hub for international trade, marking a significant milestone in Shanghai's institutional innovation with regards to the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, announced the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce.

The commission's Deputy Director Zhang Jie said that over the past decade, the functionality of the Shanghai International Trade Single Window has evolved from its initial six modules to encompass 16 major processing categories, achieving comprehensive coverage of port clearance supervision procedures and facilitating the integration of all international trade-related transactions. The platform, which supports over a quarter of China's total import and export trade volume, has served more than 600,000 enterprises and has become the digital foundation for optimizing the business environment at Shanghai ports. The platform's successful experiences are now being replicated and promoted nationwide.

Shanghai Yuanchu International Logistics, one of the first enterprises to use the platform, has served a witness and a beneficiary of the system's 10-year development.

"In the first beginning, it took two-to-three hours from declaration to release of goods through the system. Now, the fastest declaration and release process has been reduced to 13 seconds," said Yu Xiongwei, technical director of the company. Yu went on to add that the introduction of functions like joint declaration, paperless filing, and appointment-based declarations have also helped companies reduce costs and enhance efficiency.

"Our customs service team has decreased from over 30 individuals to 12, yet our workload has doubled," Yu said.

Data indicates that the single-window service system has enabled enterprises to save time and manpower costs in various declaration operations, amounting to more than 20 billion yuan ($2.76 billion) annually.

Currently the system is undergoing an intelligent upgrade to complete with cutting-edge digital and smart service capabilities. This is a collaborative initiative launched by the Municipal Commission of Commerce and other relevant port departments in October, according to Zhang.

Zhang said in the next phase, the service platform will intensify collaborations with sister provinces and cities in the Yangtze River Delta and the Yangtze River Economic Belt in order to jointly build and enhance their respective single-window services for international trade. Furthermore, efforts will be made to enhance international cooperation and promote the development of a high-quality cross-border trade ecosystem by empowering digital service providers in the shipping trade sector.

Source: Wenhui Daily, sh.chinanews.com