As part of work to streamline customs clearance procedures and facilitate cross-border trade, China’s southern Hainan Province commenced trials of electronic customs clearance procedures for international trade logistics at airports and ports on the free trade island.

Electronic customs clearance procedures for international trading logistics are first being rolled out from April 13 to May 13 at the two biggest airports on the island—the Haikou Meilan International Airport and the Sanya Phoenix International Airport, where general trade cargo is now undergoing electronic declarations procedures through a one-stop service window system (www.singlewindow.hn.cn).

Aerial view of Terminal 2 at the Haikou Meilan International Airport (Photo: Liu Yang / Hinews)

After the one-month trial period, paper customs declaration documents are slated to be completely phased out and replaced by the electronic declaration system.

In June, 2020, China released the master plan for the Hainan Free Trade Port, aiming to complete the basic establishment of Hainan as a free trade island focusing on trade and investment liberalization and facilitation by 2025. Going forward, Hainan aims to achieve the liberalization and facilitation of trade, investment, cross-border capital flows, movement of persons, transportation, and a secure and orderly flow of data on the island by 2035, and develop the island into a globally-influential high-level free trade port by the middle of the century.