Guangzhou's Nansha district demonstrates import zone successes

Nansha district of Guangzhou will showcase its national demonstration zone for creative promotion of the import trade from April 23-27 when the second phase of the China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, is underway.

To be held at the newly opened imports hall, the district's display will highlight the overall image, achievements, policy system and business environment of the national demonstration zone as well as the products, services and solutions provided by more than 20 high-quality import companies in the zone.

Exhibitors will include Guangzhou Automobile Group Import and Export Trading; Guangzhou Port; Guangzhou Green Oil; Jointek Food& Beverage Allocation and Distribution Center, a wine importer; Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao International Supply Chain (Guangzhou), an operator of the Digital Service Trade Platform of Global Premium Distribution Center; and China Southern Air Leasing, an aircraft-related funding and leasing service provider.

In November 2020, Nansha entered the list of China's first 10 national demonstration zones for creative promotion of the import trade.

Nansha has easy access to a world-class port and enjoys advantageous opening-up policies for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, free trade zones and comprehensive bonded zones, an official said.

The implementation of the Overall Plan for Promoting Comprehensive Cooperation among Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao by Further Deepening Opening-up in Nansha District of Guangzhou, which was released by the State Council in June 2022, presents new engines for the district to develop the import business, added Xie Xiaohui, director-general of the district's commerce bureau.

According to the official, the zone has been fostering six import platforms, each of which is expected to realize annual imports worth more than 10 billion yuan ($1.45 billion) in the foreseeable future. "They are developing rapidly on track," he said.

The platforms — a comprehensive service hub for the international automotive trade, a digital service trade platform, a cold chain logistics distribution center, a global aircraft funding and leasing center, a Bay Area grain distribution center and a gourmet food and wine distribution center — signify Nansha's plan to strengthen its trade by capitalizing on the flow of port logistics and the increasingly sophisticated infrastructure, he said.

Among them, the automotive service hub allows the cross-customs-area transfer of imported vehicles thanks to the innovative pattern of "bonded warehousing plus bonded transfer". It imported 2,471 vehicles parallelly in 2022.

The Digital Service Trade Platform, the first of its kind in China's foreign trade, assisted local enterprises to enjoy a 6 billion yuan increase in foreign trade in 2022.

The one-stop cold chain logistics distribution center imported goods worth 9 billion yuan in 2022.

The cold storage project in the southern zone of the center, currently the largest individual cold storage facility in China, has been completed. The center covers an area of 208,000 square meters with a planned volume of 460,000 metric tons of cold storage and 162 refrigerated container inspection platforms.

The global aircraft funding and leasing center, which imported eight aircraft in 2022, is one of the largest aircraft leasing hubs in South China.

A total of 244 aircraft have been delivered to the center, with a contract value of about $15 billion. Innovative business models such as the first cross-border transfer of asset packages for aircraft leasing and the first cross-border leasing transaction for a mixed portfolio of second-hand aircraft have been implemented there.

The Bay Area grain distribution center, taking advantage of the Nansha General Port Terminal for Grain, imported grain worth 3.75 billion yuan in 2022. The port terminal is also under expansion.

The gourmet food and wine distribution center imported fresh and dried fruit and nuts worth 4.17 billion yuan in 2022, which is more than a twofold increase. With more platforms and facilities completed, it will continue to expand the import of consumer goods such as wine and snacks.

Official data shows that Nansha's foreign trade volume totaled 298.8 billion yuan in 2022, a 15.1 percent increase year-on-year. Among them, imports were worth 136.5 billion yuan, an increase of 23.2 percent.

In 2022, Nansha imported consumer goods worth 38.72 billion yuan, up 32.3 percent year-on-year. Natural gas imports were worth 36.43 billion yuan, an increase of 4.3 times. Meanwhile, cultural product imports reached 6.67 billion yuan, an increase of 4.8 times. Imports of medicinal materials and pharmaceuticals totaled 2.77 billion yuan, an increase of 6 percent.

In 2022, Nansha's cross-border e-commerce trade rose to 90 billion yuan, a 1.5-fold increase year-on-year, which helped Nansha gain a new label as an innovative cross-border e-commerce highland.

In September 2022, Mead Johnson China and the Nansha district government reached a strategic cooperation deal to explore opportunities in digital infrastructure, cross-border trade services and big data services, and conducted in-depth discussions on the global traceability system for cross-border products.

Zhu Dingping, president of Mead Johnson China, said that Nansha boasts clear planning, abundant experience and advantages in digital infrastructure and cross-border digital service trade systems.

With a broad development prospect, Mead Johnson's layout in Nansha is significant for localized operations; the company also hopes to contribute to the overall industrial ecology and development of Nansha, Zhu said.

In 2020, Mead Johnson opened its cross-border center in Nansha, becoming the first maternal and child product company to join Nansha's global traceability system.

Over the past two years, the demonstration zone has been pushing for trade promotion through policy innovation, with terms in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership as the benchmark. It took the lead nationwide by releasing 17 pilot measures in six fields, becoming the first pilot free trade zone to integrate innovative measures that align with both RCEP and CPTPP agreements.

Innovative customs supervision in Nansha's cross-border public distribution center, the first of its kind in China, enables the delivery of imported parcels to advance by four hours. Meanwhile the bonded bunkering business, which involves the refueling of large ships, has allowed Nansha to become a "super filling station" in the Bay Area.

Hundreds of cars are lined up for loading in Nansha automobile wharf. CHINA DAILY

Hundreds of cars are lined up for loading in Nansha automobile wharf. CHINA DAILY

Scan the QR codes below to learn more about Nansha.