On September 3, the World Internet Conference released the Collection of Cross-Border E-Commerce Practice Cases (2026) (hereinafter referred to as the Collection) at the "Silk Road Links Business, Smart Trade for Win Win" International Symposium on Cross-Border E-Commerce, held in Indonesia. YANTIAN was selected for its practice of "building a diversified and streamlined customs clearance system for cross-border e-commerce", making it the only port featured among this year's exemplary cases. This marks the third consecutive year that YANTIAN has received the recognition.
This year's Collection features 88 exemplary cases selected from submissions worldwide. The cases span a range of areas, including digital platform service innovation, AI-powered cross-border e-commerce, integrated innovation in supporting services, compliance and sustainable development, international coordination and cooperation, and government guidance and service innovation. Together, they showcase the dynamic growth and continued evolution of the global cross-border e-commerce industry.
Recognition Reflects YANTIAN's Continued Efforts to Address the Challenges of Cross-border E-commerce Going Global
China's cross-border e-commerce sector continues to expand, entering a new phase of rapid growth driven by greater compliance and standardisation. In 2025, China's cross-border e-commerce imports and exports reached CNY2.75 trillion, up 69.7% from 2020. Shenzhen's cross-border e-commerce imports and exports reached CNY284.5 billion, ranking first among China's major cities for the fourth consecutive year. The city is also home to nearly half of the country's cross-border e-commerce businesses. In the first half of 2026, independently owned brands accounted for 33.7% of Shenzhen's exports, 8.8% higher than the national average. With its vast industry base and well-developed ecosystem, Shenzhen has earned a reputation as China's "centre of cross-border e-commerce".
As a world-class shipping hub, YANTIAN handles around one-third of Guangdong's import and export cargo and approximately one-quarter of China's exports to the US. It operates more than 10 cross-border e-commerce express services on a regular basis, supported by 38 rail-sea services, an extensive feeder network, and frequent, extensive, shortest, and efficient shipping services. Through close collaboration among government authorities, customs, port associations, and enterprises, YANTIAN provides foreign trade enterprises with stable, efficient and low-carbon logistics channels. With reliable transit times, frequent sailings, and fast customs clearance, YANTIAN has become a preferred port for cross-border e-commerce in South China. It is helping a new generation of brands expand overseas while enabling Intelligent Manufacturing in China to reach markets around the world more efficiently.
Yet the sector's rapid growth has also brought growing pressure on customs clearance. Under traditional regulatory models, cross-border e-commerce shipments are subject to the same queues and inspection procedures as general trade cargo at ports of entry. For consolidated exports, an inspection of a single shipment can result in the detention of an entire container, creating a major bottleneck. Existing customs clearance rules are increasingly unable to keep pace with the sector's increasingly diverse business models. A more differentiated and efficient customs clearance service system is therefore urgently needed to support the continued rapid growth of cross-border e-commerce.
In June 2025, the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued the Opinions on Further Advancing the Shenzhen Comprehensive Reform Pilot, Deepening Reform and Innovation, and Expanding Opening Up. The document explicitly supports Yantian Port in exploring new approaches to facilitate customs clearance and other areas, giving the port greater scope to pioneer and pilot innovative practices.
To address the challenges faced by cross-border e-commerce enterprises in going global, YANTIAN has leveraged policy support, built on its core capabilities in facilitating global trade, and responded to the evolving needs of the industry. With the support of relevant port supervisory authorities, it has optimised port-side processes and functions and introduced a range of measures to facilitate customs clearance for cross-border e-commerce.
"Inspect Before Loading": Smoother Clearance, Lower Costs and Faster Turnaround
"Inspect Before Loading" is an innovative customs clearance model for cross-border e-commerce exports. On April 2, 2026, Shenzhen's first regulatory facility dedicated to the "Inspect Before Loading" model for cross-border e-commerce exports was put into operation at Yantian Port. The new model replaces the traditional "single-shipment inspection with the entire container held for release" approach with a more flexible model that allows consolidated cargo to be inspected shipment by shipment—making customs clearance smoother, reducing costs and speeding up turnaround times.
Under the model, cross-border e-commerce exporters can first deliver loose cargo to a warehouse at a customs-designated regulatory facility. Once customs inspection is completed and the cargo is cleared without any issues, the enterprise can proceed with container loading, shipment arrangements, and customs release procedures. This enables a streamlined process featuring "one inspection, one loading process, and rapid customs clearance."
The "Inspect Before Loading" model has delivered significant results:
Customs clearance time reduced by more than 50%;
Overall costs for enterprises reduced by more than 30%;
Port congestion eased, with shorter container dwell times and improved utilisation of regulatory facility capacity;
Regulatory procedures moved further upstream, enabling more effective oversight while accelerating customs clearance.
Priority Inspection for 9710 Declarations: Accelerating Time-Sensitive Shipments
As full-container exports by medium-sized and large cross-border e-commerce enterprises continue to grow and overseas warehouse pre-positioning becomes increasingly common, demand for fast and reliable outbound logistics is rising. To meet these needs, and with the support of regulatory authorities, YANTIAN has introduced a facilitation initiative featuring priority inspection for full-container shipments declared under the 9710 customs declaration category. By optimising staff scheduling and inspection yard layouts and introducing dedicated identification mechanisms for 9710 full-container declarations, the initiative significantly improves customs clearance efficiency for containerised cargo.
This helps enterprises maintain reliable vessel schedules and stable transit times, enabling time-sensitive cross-border e-commerce shipments to move faster and reach overseas markets more efficiently.
Rail-Sea Service: More Reliable End-to-End Connectivity from Inland Areas to Global Markets
Alongside customs facilitation measures, YANTIAN is further strengthening its rail-sea service capabilities. Cargo from inland regions can be transported directly to Yantian Port by rail, or delivered to Hong Kong's Kwai Tsing Container Terminals via the YANTIAN-Kwai Tsing feeder express service, which operates six sailings daily. Upon arrival at YANTIAN or Kwai Tsing Container Terminals, cargo can be seamlessly connected to international liner services reaching more than 200 countries and regions worldwide. YANTIAN offers South China's most extensive services to Europe and North America, while Kwai Tsing Container Terminals provides the Greater Bay Area's most comprehensive services to Asia and South America. Together, the two ports form a highly complementary gateway system for enterprises.
The successful operations of Chengdu–Shenzhen-Hong Kong Scheduled Rail-Sea Service and Chongqing-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Scheduled Rail-Sea Service have effectively extended the global shipping networks of YANTIAN and Kwai Tsing Container Terminals deep into inland China. This integrated network delivers shared benefits across the three regions.
As a key hub for Shenzhen's cross-border e-commerce sector, Yantian Port continues to lead the way in industry scale, infrastructure, and ecosystem development, underpinned by its world-class port capabilities. Looking ahead, YANTIAN will continue to provide high-quality port services and comprehensive support for the growth of cross-border e-commerce. It will also leverage its influence as a world-class port and its role as a bridge, bringing together government authorities, customs, industry associations and enterprises to further optimise the business environment for cross-border e-commerce.
As the preferred port for cross-border e-commerce in South China, YANTIAN is honoured to grow alongside its partners in Shenzhen, working together on this dynamic platform to create shared value, foster innovation, and achieve mutual success.
Contact Information of YANTIAN Cross-Border E-commerce Service
Manager of Commercial Department
Mr. Xie
Tel: 0755-2529 6559/+86 139 2377 7662
Email: yongquan.xie@yict.com.cn