Recently, a China-Europe Railway Express carrying tire production equipment and raw materials of Shandong Linglong Tyre Co., Ltd. departed from the SCODA Multimodal Transport Center in Qingdao under the supervision of customs officers, exited China through Horgos Port, and finally arrived at the company's factory in Serbia. The factory is the first tire production plant in Europe invested and built by a Chinese company.
In recent years, under the impetus of the Belt and Road Initiative, a growing number of foreign trade enterprises have consistently increased their awareness of international innovation, transitioning from a single export-oriented approach to a diversified global strategy. Chinese companies are increasingly accelerating their efforts to "go global".
Serbia is one of the Belt and Road partner countries. Shandong Linglong Tyre Co., Ltd. started the construction of the factory in Serbia in 2019 and achieved mass production in September 2024. At present, the first phase of the project has entered the stage of continuous ramp-up of production capacity, with an increasing order volume, which has been widely recognized by the European market. The second phase of the expansion project has also been launched.
"The expansion of our overseas projects has significantly increased our company's demand for export equipment. While we are quite experienced in exporting tires, we are still new to exporting equipment. Additionally, with the imminent launch of the second phase of the project, the timeline for exporting equipment is extremely tight," explained Wang Litao, Manager of the Foreign Trade Department at Shandong Linglong Tyre Co., Ltd. The company faces challenges in exporting equipment, including a wide range of goods, high complexity, time-consuming handling procedures, and the intricacies of complying with international standards.
In order to help enterprises accurately carry out export declaration and ensure the construction period of projects, Yantai Customs has formulated a "one policy for one enterprise" assistance mechanism. Based on the needs of enterprises, it regularly communicates with enterprises, arranges customs-enterprise liaison officers to timely dock with enterprises, provides accurate services, guides enterprises to use national customs clearance integration, customs transit and other customs clearance modes, and superimposes facilitation measures such as advance declaration and two-step declaration to improve the efficiency of goods customs clearance.
"Based on the enterprise export equipment directory, we have appointed experienced key personnel to address the technical standards requirements of Serbia. They guide enterprises to submit declarations in a standardized and timely manner, promptly resolve issues during the application process, and ensure the smooth exportation of the project's equipment." Said Dong Lichen, Deputy Section Chief of the Integrated Business at Yantai Customs Office in Zhaoyuan.
In order to facilitate the rapid and efficient export of this batch of equipment, Yantai Customs has optimized the operation process and smoothed the "chain" of customs clearance. In view of the characteristics of heavy equipment, high value of goods and high timeliness requirements, we will take the initiative to connect with enterprises' export plans and train demands. Meanwhile, we will strengthen communication and coordination with Jiaozhou Customs, Shandong Hi-speed Company Limited and SCODA Multimodal Transport Center, make joint efforts to customize customs clearance schemes, grasp the dynamics of goods in real time, plan supervision operation arrangements in advance, and ensure that export equipment is loaded and shipped on time without delay.
"With the support of the customs, our equipment was successfully 'packaged' and delivered, providing a strong guarantee for the on-schedule commencement of the second phase of the project." According to Wang Litao, the company will export engineering equipment of more than RMB 10 million to Serbia in 2024.
Coincidentally, the overseas joint venture project of Yantai Port-Bonded Storage Yard Project at Guinea Kimbo&Co.Port will also enter the peak period of construction in 2025. At the end of 2024, this project has been officially approved by multiple departments of Guinea.
"As cooperation areas in the 'Belt and Road Initiative' continue to expand, investment in African infrastructure is on the rise, leading to a significant increase in the demand for exporting engineering machinery," stated Li Jian, Director of the Production Business Department at Yantai Port. Yantai Port has capitalized on the infrastructure development opportunities in African nations by leveraging advantages such as the "Central and Africa Two-way Logistics Golden Channel". This has allowed them to deeply penetrate the general cargo liner market in Central Africa and enhance the export of engineering machinery to the continent.
In order to support the rapid growth of the liner general cargo business in Central Africa, customs authorities have continuously advanced the implementation of facilitation measures such as "delayed or appointment-based customs clearance appointments" and "risk-driven inspections." These initiatives aim to optimize port inspection and release procedures, enhance customs clearance efficiency, and actively respond to emerging demands from markets, ports, and enterprises. By aligning with the characteristics of general cargo export supervision, a new model of cargo management has been launched. This includes pre-positioning loading and tallying processes and integrating inspection facilities, effectively reducing the inspection time for individual vessels carrying general cargo by 2 to 3 days compared to previous procedures. This approach improves the efficiency of supervision and inspection while lowering logistical operation costs.
Dong Lichen stated that the next step for Yantai Customs is to continuously enhance their supervision and service capabilities by leveraging the advancements from the smart customs. They aim to optimize the cargo clearance process, reduce clearance times, and facilitate seamless industrial and supply chains for businesses. This will provide precise and efficient high-quality customs clearance services to support the international expansion of 'Made in China'. (Text by Zheng Lina)
Disclaimer：The above content is translated from Chinese version of Qingdao Customs. The Qingdao Customs version shall prevail.
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