China Inspection and Quarantine Times: On April 6, under the supervision of Jinhua Customs, a division of Hangzhou Customs, a CR Express train loaded with electronic products, daily consumer goods, textile materials and other goods departed from Jinhuanan Railway Station in Zhejiang. The train will exit China via Alashankou Port en route to Europe. Statistics reveal that in the first quarter of this year, Hangzhou Customs supervised a total of 63,000 TEUs of import and export cargo transported by CR Express trains in Zhejiang, marking a year-on-year increase of 4%, thereby achieving a prosperous start to the year.
As a key trade corridor linking Zhejiang with Belt and Road Initiative partner countries, the CR Express service in Zhejiang has been in operation for 11 years, during which 25 routes have been launched, reaching around 160 cities in 50 countries across the Eurasian continent. Annually, over 100,000 varieties of products are exported worldwide via the Zhejiang CR Express, offering an efficient and reliable logistics network for the export of "Made in Zhejiang" goods to Belt and Road partner nations.
Hangzhou Customs is actively facilitating the deep integration of the CR Express with Zhejiang's local advanced manufacturing sector. There is an increasing volume of high-value-added goods being transported via the trains, with electronic devices like mobile phones emerging as particularly popular items in recent years.
To support the continued expansion in the variety and quantity of goods transported by the CR Express, Hangzhou Customs has been actively implementing facilitation measures such as "Railway Fast Clearance" and "Direct Port Loading" to enhance transport efficiency. Under the "Railway Fast Clearance" model, enterprises can complete declaration, inspection, and release procedures in a one-stop manner at the departure customs office, improving the efficiency of export clearance and mitigating the risk of detention delay. Meanwhile, the "Direct Port Loading" model allows goods to be transported directly from factories to port areas. Export declarations can be submitted to customs in advance during the production or packing stage, and once the cargo arrives at the port and is released, it can be loaded directly onto trains—eliminating the need for unloading, reloading, and internal transfer at customs-controlled facilities. This streamlined process can cut logistics time by more than 50%. In the first quarter, the Zhejiang CR Express facilitated the inspection and clearance of over 8,000 TEUs through the 'Railway Fast Clearance' model, marking a year-on-year increase of more than 13 times. Meanwhile, under the 'Direct Port Loading' method, the value of inspected and released goods surpassed RMB 100 million.
Moreover, Hangzhou Customs has established a 'Green Channel' specifically for CR Express, implementing a '24/7' appointment-based customs clearance system to ensure 'inspection upon arrival' and 'release upon inspection'. Additionally, they have fortified collaborations with customs at key ports like Alashankou,Horgos, and Manzhouli to ensure the efficient and smooth clearance of train cargo.
Moving forward, Hangzhou Customs will leverage the development of the CR Express Hub as a pivotal opportunity to advance the implementation of various customs clearance facilitation measures. This strategy aims to streamline channels and enhance services for the CR Express, thereby enabling more top-tier domestic products to reach international markets via this corridor. (Correspondents: Zhang Jiazheng and Zhou Huawei)
Disclaimer：The above content is translated from Chinese version of China Inspection and Quarantine Times. The China Inspection and Quarantine Times version shall prevail.