Pilot FTZ in China's Chongqing sees robust whole-vehicle imports

CHONGQING - The pilot free trade zone (FTZ) in Southwest China's Chongqing municipality registered stellar whole-vehicle imports in 2020 with streamlined China-Europe freight train services.

In 2020, 6,053 vehicles were imported via the China-Europe freight train services, with a total value of nearly 2.82 billion yuan ($430 million), according to municipal customs authorities on Wednesday.

This came after the pilot FTZ simplified its bonded warehouse services for whole-vehicle imports to one inspection and one transit, which cut the time taken to enter and exit the FTZ by over 50 percent.

The pilot FTZ has also set up whole-process electronic monitoring for packages to improve the efficiency of international parcel transport via the China-Europe freight train services.

Chongqing's China-Europe freight train services transported more than 17 million parcels in 2020, accounting for over 65 percent of all parcels handled via the services nationwide.