The fifth provincial joint conference for the construction of Xi an International Trade &Logistics Park, which was held on Feb 27, announced that the State Council on Feb 14 approved the construction of Xi an Comprehensive Bonded Zone, the first-ever comprehensive bonded zone in Northwest China.
With an area of 6.17 square kilometers, Xi an Comprehensive Bonded Zone will include standard factories and warehouses totaling 1.2 million square meters. As the bonded zone currently enjoying most preferential policies in China, Xi an Comprehensive Bonded Zone will be equipped with such functions as port of opening-ups, bonded logistics, bonded export processing and international trade, introduced Zhou Fengqin, director of Xi an Customs.
Han Song, vice-mayor of Xi an and director of the administrative committee of Xi an International Trade &Logistics Park, said that the approval of Xi an Comprehensive Bonded Zone endowed Xi an with unprecedented functions of port services. As a result, the bonded zone will adopt the mode of international inland port featuring backward position of port, on-site document settlement, sea-rail transport and seamless integration.
It will also achieve the international logistics goal of connecting rivers with oceans for inland areas. With the simplification of the transferring process for goods export and import, the bonded zone will speed up the customs clearance, improve the environment for foreign trade and investment in western regions, promote the foreign-oriented economic development of western regions, help build a strategic inland hub for development and opening-up, and create more opportunities for enterprises in the eastern regions an the western regions to compete in both domestic market and international market.
At present, the planning and construction of the Xi an Comprehensive Bonded Zone have started. The construction will be conducted in accordance with the principle of overall planning and step-by-step implementation. In 2011, a total of 2 billion yuan will be invested on the first phase of the zone, and 200,000-sq-m standard factory buildings and 100,000-sq-m stereoscopic warehouse will be built to ensure the timely operation of the project.
