Nantong Free Trade Zone to launch customs reforms

The Nantong Free Trade Zone (FTZ) in the Nantong Economic and Technological Development Area (NETDA) of East China’s Jiangsu province will learn from the Shanghai FTZ and promote a series of reform practices in customs control and services starting mid-August, according to a report from the city’s customs.

The reform includes 14 policies concerning various aspects such as customs clearance, transportation, maintenance, finance lease, declaration and taxation.

The zone has been learning from the Shanghai FTZ since it started operation in the end of 2013. The reforms are expected to bring confidence to entrepreneurs and investors, and boost the market, said Fan Zhiqing, deputy director of the NETDA administration committee.

The Nantong FTZ, the first of its kind in central Jiangsu, is a new site to implement reform and opening-up. With a planned area of 5.29 square kilometers, the zone is divided into two sections for bonded processing, port operation, bonded warehousing, international purchase and distribution. The zone plans to build centers for settlement, logistics, research and development, processing and manufacturing, exhibition and sales, and testing and maintenance. It also aims to become a trade site for cotton and textiles, imports, cross-border e-commerce, edible oil, automobile and petrochemical products. The textile raw material trade center was opened on June 30, with an annual turnover expected to reach 10 billion yuan ($1.6 billion).