On September 9th, Yichang Three Gorges Bonded Logistics Center (Type B) (hereafter referred as Three Gorges Bonded Logistics Center) has formally passed the national acceptance through the comprehensive evaluation conducted by the joint acceptance team consisting of the General Administration of Customs, Ministry of Finance, the State Taxation Administration, and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, which means that Yichang has made a substantial step in the promotion of the construction of a pilot free trade zone in Hubei, Yichang. Many provincial and municipal leaders, including Wang Runtao (deputy secretary of Hubei Provincial Government), Wang Hanzhou (deputy commissioner of Wuhan Custom), Song Wenbao (member of the Standing Committee and executive vice mayor), and Zhou Zhengying (deputy mayor of the municipal government), have participated in the acceptance activity.

　　 On that day, the joint acceptance team headed by Hu Dongsheng (team leader and deputy director of the trade department in the General Administration of Customs), evaluated one by one the the Three Gorges Bonded Logistics Center’s infrastructure, bayonet facilities, isolation facilities, information management and so on, through special themes reports listening, field investigation and the consulting of Project Evaluation Form. Finally, they agreed on the acceptance pass of this project.

　　 Located in Xiaoting Industrial Park, the Three Gorges Bonded Logistics Center,has gained approval to be established from four state administrations including the General Administration of Customs on November 25th, 2015. Adhering to the principle of “municipal-level strategy, district-level implementation and municipal-district linkage”, Yichang has relied on Yunchi Deep water Port, Three Gorges Airport and Ziyun Railway to speed up promoting the project construction and operation preparation with scientific test, careful selection of the site, one-time planning and implementation by step. It has passed the pre-acceptance of Wuhan Custom Organization on June, 30th, 2016.

　　The Three Gorges Bonded Logistics Center has planned to cover an area of 596 mu, with two-stage construction. In the first phase costing 0.58 billion yuan in total, it planned to have a logistics operation quantity of 1.6 million tons per year (a storage volume of 0.8 million tons per year), with a construction area of 304.6 mu and a building area of 73600 square meters. After its approved acceptance, it can not only bring benefits to firms in Yichang, but also attract foreign trade companies from the southwestern Hubei and the surrounding areas of the Three Gorges, since it can comprehensively reduce the cost of these firms by over 20%.

　　Song Wenbao said in a speech that the Three Gorges Bonded Logistics Center would provide a new platform and great opportunity for Yichang to achieve open and creative development in a wider, larger and higher level after its successfully approved state acceptance and formal operation. Yichang will make efforts to declare the construction of a comprehensive bonded zone and a pilot free trade zone in Hubei, Yichang, and strive to foster a better platform for its open and creative development.

　　At present, the Three Gorges Bonded Logistics Center is positively promoting its docking with surrounding foreign trade logistics firms and key industrial firms. It has reached cooperation intention with over 60 firms successively, and reached a consensus with Three Gorges Airport and Yichang Yunchi Shipping Port in terms of navigation industry docking and the integration of free trade zone and port. (Reporter: Wang Ying; Correspondent: Tang Shuitang and Yang Xiaohong).