April 28 saw the trial operation of the public bonded warehouse for cross-border e-commerce in Yichang Comprehensive Bonded Zone. Citizens can buy more than 1,400 imported goods from all over the world at the local market without purchasing agents. The e-commerce public warehouse in Yichang Integrated Free Trade Zone, having a total of 20,000 square meters, homes 5 cross-border e-commerce enterprises so far.

　　The goods stored in the public warehouse are subject to customs supervision 24 hours a day, and enjoy the special policy of free import duty exemption and 30% discount of import link tax, said Han Jinlong, head of the free trade department of Yichang Customs. Enterprises store overseas imported goods in batches in the integrated free trade zone. Once an item is sold, customs clearance and taxation have to be implemented. Compared with general trade imports, the bonded stock mode substantialy reduces the procurement cost and logistics cost of enterprises, simplifies import procedures, and saves import taxes for consumers;Cosmetics worth 500 yuan can be purchased for 420 yuan on cross-border e-commerce platforms.

　　Consumers bought imported products mainly through overseas purchasing agents, which took a long time of delivery and had no guarantee on after-sale services. After the operation of the public warehouse, consumers can place orders on the cross-border e-commerce platform, and the goods can be sent directly from Yichang comprehensive insurance zone. The transportation time is greatly reduced, realizing the “zero-day” in cross-border shopping. In addition, the customs clearance, inspection and quarantine of goods are strictly monitored throughout the whole process, so that the quality is more guaranteed and all rights and interests can be effectively protected.

　　Yichang Free Trade Zone will also launch a cross-border import commodity quality traceability platform under the guidance of Yichang Municipal Bureau of Commerce, Yichang Municipal Bureau of market supervision and Administration, and other departments. By then, each cross-border commodity will have an “ID card”, and the information of each commodity will be clear at a glance.

　　The Yichang Integrated Free Trade Zone, the first integrated free trade zone in anon-provincial city in the province, was closed for business on March 22 last year. The first quarter witnessed a significant growth of import and export volume with 1.498 billion yuan, ranking 95th among the top 100 in China;In March, the monthly import and export volume arrived at 880 million yuan, ranking 75th in China and 3rd in the province.

　　the operation of the public warehouse of cross-border e-commerce puts the last “jigsaw” on the construction of the comprehensive experimental zone of cross-border e-commerce, marking a new era of all forms of cross-border e-commerce development in the city, and boosting the high-quality development of Yichang Integrated Free Trade Zone and the city’s export-oriented economy. (Reporter He Guanying)