Imports and exports in aquatic products in Zhanjiang maintained strong momentum in the first four months of 2016 despite a sluggish global market, according to figures released by the city's customs service.

The numbers show the city's foreign trade volume of aquatic products grew 12.4 percent year-on-year to reach 28,000 tons from January to April.

Imports of aquatic products in the city increased 73.5 percent to hit more than 4,000 tons while exports came to 24,000 tons between January and April.

Enterprises in Zhanjiang attributed the growth to both the expansion of economic ties between Zhanjiang and the Southeast Asian nations and countries along the ancient Maritime Silk Road, and the efficiency of local customs authorities.

"The highly efficient efforts of customs authorities, plus convenient and quick logistics channels have contributed to the rapid growth of the aquatic products trade in Zhanjiang since the beginning of the year," said Wang Changchao, president of Asian Seafood (Zhanjiang) Co Ltd.

Following the introduction of a customs clearance cooperation system around the Beibu Gulf rim, Zhanjiang's aquatic product traders can now directly import and export their products from ports in Hainan province and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, Wang said.

"And that can help local producers and traders cut two to three days in transportation time and reduce production costs by $300 to $400 for each container. Previously, local firms were reliant on scheduled liners carrying their products via Hong Kong and Shenzhen, more than 500 kilometers away," he added.

The new Beibu Gulf rim customs cooperation system allows Zhanjiang companies to import and export their aquatic products at four ports in Hainan, Guangxi and Zhanjiang.

Since late last year, the region has also opened 10 additional international air routes to link Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Cambodia and Bangladesh.

According to a senior executive from Guolian Aquatic Products Co, the introduction by Zhanjiang Customs of an "intelligent customs service" has greatly simplified and speeded up processes dealing with the import and export of aquatic products.

"It now takes one to two hours to get our products declared, examined and cleared by customs," said the executive.

The city's customs authority has also introduced a paperless declaration service, allowing local companies to electronically submit import and export declarations 24 hours a day.

It is also helping Zhanjiang develop into a State-level role model for the aquatic products industry and a major distribution center for the industry in the South China region, with a focus on Southeast Asia.

Local firms are also getting help from customs in dealing with cold storage issues and establishing e-commerce operations.

Zhanjian-produced oysters are well received in restaurants throughout the country.

(China Daily 05/30/2016 page6)