SHANGHAI: Customs declaration forms can now be submitted in electronic form via e-mail or MSN at the Waigaoqiao port.

The port now handles 70 percent of all containers entering and exiting Shanghai. The Waigaoqiao Frontier Inspection Station cleared 4,219 entries and exits in the first three months of this year.

The new channels for filing customs declarations are aimed at increasing efficiency and shortening waiting times.

Electronic declaration forms can be sent via e-mail or MSN before the ship arrives, shaving about an hour and a half off the procedures required of container ships.

"This saves time and money. It can save up to $10,000 for each ship," Lu Congbing, spokesperson for the Waigaoqiao Frontier Inspection Station, told China Daily.

"If a cruise liner comes, the immigration office will have to check the information of 5,000 people or more. The waiting time would be very exhausting," Lu said.

Waigaoqiao port is expected to receive about 10 cruise liners this year.

"The cruise liners stopping at Waigaoqiao are among the world's 10 largest," Lu said.

Yang Yongxiang, vice head of the inspection team, said customs officials had their work cut out for them.

"Waigaoqiao port's immigration office is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, with nine policemen on three shifts," Yang said. "However, the number of containers going through the port has been increasing, and we are facing a serious shortage of staff."

Representatives from shipping companies have welcomed the new system.

"The process is much quicker thanks to the electronic submission system," said Li Dongyin, the shipping and documents manger of Eastern Linkage, a company engaged in cotton imports. "You need to complete all work at the port within seven days. Saving time on each procedure is important."

Waigaoqiao Frontier Inspection Station has undertaken several measures to speed up customs clearances and provide a better service.

The immigration office has promised to complete customs processing within 15 minutes for a foreign ship and 10 minutes for a Chinese ship. Cruise liners are supposed to go through inspection in the early morning so that the tourists can visit the city during the day.