On 27 December 2007, China's General Administration of Customs and the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine jointly launched a new, paperless customs-clearance network for cargo imported and exported via Yantian Port. If the launch is successful, the new network may be applied to other Chinese ports in the coming year.
Under the new customs-clearance system, the Yantian Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau will send real-time clearance data to Dapeng Customs after receiving a customs declaration. Dapeng Customs will then issue releases electronically after verifying the data.
The new electronic network is expected to affect over 10,000 companies. These companies generate over one million customs-clearance documents every year – all of which have been paper-based until now. The new customs-clearance system will therefore be more eco-friendly. It will also be more efficient and less costly than the old system.
During 2007, a series of initiatives have been taken in the Yantian port area to continuously improve port administration. For example, YICT collaborated with Yantian Inspection and Quarantine in becoming the first container terminal in Mainland China to fully automate the container sterilisation process, which now takes only 20 seconds to complete.
YICT has also worked closely with the Dapeng Customs to implement a new mode of customs clearance called "Declaration at Local Customs, Inspection and Release at Port Customs" that helps shippers save more than half of customs transit time. In September, another new mode of operation called "Changing Vessels before Declaration" for export cargo was launched within the jurisdiction of Shenzhen Customs. This measure has greatly reduced the time needed for changing vessels, allowing shipping lines more flexibility to allocate vessels.