Support small enterprises

to import production equipment from around the world. The company also planned to import a large number of transmissions after the production line started running. GAC considered getting customs clearance in Guangzhou of Guangdong province and then transporting the imported goods to the Yichang factory. However, it found the process would have a high logistical cost and accrue huge taxes. Yichang Area then suggested GAC use the Yichang Three Gorges Bonded Logistics Center (Type-B). This would allow GAC to pick up goods based on production demand.

In China, a Type-B bonded logistics center is a centralized customssupervised area operated by a domestic enterprise’s legal representative in China who specializes in the bonded warehousing logistics business.

By using the bonded logistics center in Yichang, GAC can pay tax afterward, which can help reduce financial pressure, said officials.

The FTZ Yichang Area’s effort not only won recognition from GAC, but also pushed forward development of the bonded logistics center in Yichang.

In the first 11 months of 2018, the Yichang Three Gorges Bonded Logistics Center received 2,117 requests for customs declaration. The total value of goods under customs supervision was 1.35 billion yuan. The center has become a leader in terms of throughput and growth rate compared to other bonded logistics centers in Hubei province, according to the area.

GAC is not the only company to have enjoyed premium services in the FTZ Yichang Area.

Hubei Long Chen Paper, a subsidiary of Taiwan paper production giant Long Chen Paper Co, is an importer of pulp. The company had to send samples to Shanghai for examination when using Yichang’s customs clearance services for the first time, meaning that their goods had to be kept in custody for longer than the expected period. In previous cases, this kind of test would take at least 20 days, according to the area authority. Yichang Customs gave their results in seven days.

Hubei Long Chen’s management was impressed by Yichang government’s service efficiency and made a long-term plan to use Yichang’s customs services.

In Yichang, many small businesses are keen to explore opportunities in overseas markets. However, they were constrained by a lack of foreign trade professionals. The FTZ Yichang Area supports a foreign trade service provider, Hubei Yimaotong Enterprise Management and Service, to encourage small and micro-sized companies to seek business opportunities in international markets.

Yimaotong provides one-stop foreign trade solutions ranging from transportation and customs declaration to exchange settlement and claim of export rebate. Local officials said that Yimaotong has reduced pressure on small companies to cultivate foreign trade professionals, enabling them to pay closer attention to production and sales.

In April, Yimaotong helped a new energy producer in the city to sell more than $200,000 of products to a client in South America. The management of the company said they are very satisfied with Yimaotong’s professional services.

Yimaotong has expanded its operation to other cities in China. In April, a textile maker from Dongguan, Guangdong province, partnered with Yimaotong with the aim to boost its export business. By the end of 2018, most of the company’s export-related work was completed in Yichang.

Looking ahead, operators of Yimaotong said the company will offer financial services to those small and micro-sized businesses.