Ten customs houses in nine provinces and autonomous regions along the proposed Silk Road Economic Belt signed a cooperation agreement on integrated regional customs clearance procedures in Qingdao on April 27, according to the Qingdao Daily.

The 10 customs houses are Qingdao and Jinan in Shandong, Zhengzhou in Henan, Taiyuan in Shanxi, Xi'an in Shaanxi, Lanzhou in Gansu, Xining in Qinghai, Yinchuan in Ningxia Hui autonomous region, Urumqi in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, and Lhasa in Tibet autonomous region.


According to a notice issued by the General Administration of Customs, all export and import products that go through any customs within the nine provinces and autonomous regions will enjoy simplified procedures through the regional integrated clearance system that will require only one single customs declaration.

Under the new rule, any customs within the nine provinces will recognize checks conducted by another customs house within the region.

Previously, enterprises had to declare imported goods at the port's customs office first to be followed by a second declaration at the local customs for full clearance.

The newly-introduced system now will cut the logistics costs of enterprises and transportation time, which, in the end, is expected to provide a strong impetus to revive China's foreign trade with the countries and regions along the Silk Road Economic Belt.