Qingdao FTZ sees boom in cross-border e-commerce

The Qingdao Area of China (Shandong) Pilot Free Trade Zone has launched a slew of measures to boost the growth of cross-border e-commerce and other new business forms as well as foster new drivers of foreign trade.

The Qingdao FTZ is located in Qingdao West Coast New Area. [Photo/Qingdao News]

Last year, the import and export volume of cross-border e-commerce in the Qingdao FTZ exceeded 10 billion yuan ($1.57 billion), up nearly 200 percent year-on-year.

Multiple platforms in Qingdao FTZ have provided a "fast track" for the development of cross-border e-commerce.

Utilizing the policy advantages of the country's pilot free trade zones, Qingdao FTZ has built the province's first bonded logistics center (Type B) in West Coast New Area featuring cross-border e-commerce, which provides special export and import bonded warehousing, import and export customs clearance, international logistics and transportation, and other services for local enterprises.

The center is equipped with new technologies and equipment such as remote video monitoring and intelligent electronic gates, reducing the time needed to clear imported goods to less than one hour.

Qingdao FTZ has issued a series of supporting policies to support the development of cross-border e-commerce and set up special funds to provide targeted support for the construction of cross-border e-commerce platforms, warehousing and logistics, and financial services so as to promote the development of the whole cross-border e-commerce industrial chain.