On June 23, a batch of submarine cable products worth 60 million yuan from Nanhai Submarine Cable Co., Ltd., a leading enterprise in Shanwei’s marine engineering equipment, was successfully transferred from the company’s resident terminal to Xiaomo International Logistics Port through the new “domestic and foreign trade ship transshipment + open port customs declaration” logistics model. After completing the full customs declaration procedures, it was successfully sent to overseas destinations.
This is an innovative practice of local multi-department cooperation to open up foreign trade blockages, and has injected strong momentum into the high-quality development of Shanwei’s offshore industry and even the overall foreign trade industry.
Since the beginning of this year, Nanhai Submarine Cable has been full of overseas orders, with production and sales booming. The large orders for Southeast Asian wind power equipment it has undertaken have tight delivery times and heavy tasks, but it faces real obstacles in going to sea: the company’s resident pier has not yet been opened to the outside world, and foreign ships cannot berth directly.
The terminal does not have the qualifications for foreign trade customs declaration during loading, and the passage of goods to the sea is suddenly blocked. The “red light” of breach of contract for order delivery once flashed. If the goods cannot be shipped on time, the company will not only have to bear high liquidated damages, but also affect the brand reputation accumulated in the international market.
In order to solve the urgent needs of enterprises, the local commerce department took the lead in coordinating customs, border inspection, maritime affairs, port operating companies and other parties to quickly implement the emergency plan of “short-distance transshipment of domestic and foreign trade ships + open port customs declaration in Xiaomo Port”.
This model makes full use of the resource advantages of the open public terminals within the Shanwei Port. It first uses domestic freighters to short-distance cargo from the enterprise’s resident terminal to the open public terminal of Xiaomo International Logistics Port. It not only circumvents the hard constraints of the resident terminal not being opened, but also significantly reduces logistics costs and shortens the transportation time compared with the traditional land transfer port model.
In the operation process, the customs and border inspection departments guide enterprises to go through the “advance declaration” procedures, and the goods are quickly inspected and released after berthing; the maritime department optimizes the international ship export port approval process, shortening the approval time by nearly 70%; the port operating company coordinates the deployment of berths and loading and unloading resources to achieve a seamless connection across the entire chain, and ultimately achieves one-stop and efficient processing of transshipment, customs declaration, and release, ensuring on-time delivery of orders.
In addition to launching emergency solutions, the local government is also making every effort to open up the “permanent artery” for offshore engineering enterprises to go to sea: At present, the commerce department has completed the provincial application for the expansion of the port of the offshore engineering base terminal, and has obtained the approval of the provincial government to submit it to the National Port Office. It is fully promoting the inclusion of the project in the national “15th Five-Year Plan” port development plan.
In the future, the local area will strictly benchmark national standards, accelerate the construction of supporting port facilities such as customs supervision, promote the temporary opening of waters step by step, steadily realize the normal opening of the entire base terminal, and create a stable, convenient, and low-cost permanent access to the sea for offshore engineering companies.
As an important coastal offshore engineering equipment industry cluster, Shanwei’s offshore engineering, wind power equipment and other industries have developed rapidly in recent years and have become the core engine of local foreign trade growth.
This innovation in the logistics customs clearance model not only solves the urgent needs of enterprises, but also provides a replicable experience model for foreign trade goods in the hinterland of non-open terminals.
Next, the local government will continue to optimize the port business environment, launch more innovative measures to facilitate customs clearance for enterprises, reduce costs and increase efficiency, and help more locally manufactured high-end equipment products enter the global market.
