PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY Workers on an assembly line making batteries in Hengyang.

Hengyang‘inland port’for foreign trade

Hengyang authorities in Hunan province are improving the city’s logistics facilities to enhance exports and imports.

The city government is making reforms to create a friendly environment and open economy. Construction on a comprehensive bonded zone, the first in the province, has recently been completed to boost the city’s foreign trade, local officials said.

As well, more than 3,600 containers have been handled at an inland port since it began trial operations in 2012. The first such terminal in the south of the province, it is one of four inland ports planned by the the provincial government.

With new roads completed and more railways approved by local authorities, combined transport by sea, road and rail is expected to further facilitate services for imports and exports.

The moves help improve efficiency of clearing shipments through customs by over 50 percent and reduce logistics costs by more than 30 percent, according to government data.

Five expressways now run through Hengyang, enabling the city to top the province in road mileage.

Hengyang is already a regional railway center served by the Wuhan- Guangzhou high- speed train and an extended rail linking Hunan province with the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

Construction on a new rail line will start soon, planners said.

Its airport and a shipping hub are now under construction. The city government is also supervising construction on 10 logistics parks. Hengyang is home to 14 industrial parks including one national-level facility and nine provincial-level zones.

Together the parks now have more efficient in clearing shipments through customs 346 companies that generated 30.1 billion yuan ($5 billion) in combined industrial output value last year, about 36 percent of the city’s total.

Li Yilong, Party chief of the city, has called on local officials to build a friendly environment for an open economy.

One-stop services are offered for investment project approval. The city government said it gives a priority to applications on major projects by offering agency services and streamlined procedures.

The government also organizes regular meetings with government officials from customs, inspection and quarantine along with industrial and commercial authorities, bankers and representatives of the foreign exchange bureau to brief key export- oriented companies.

The multi- sector meeting offers a channel for local exporters to learn about the latest trend of the related policies and helps them make full use of such vehicles as export credit insurance to explore international market better, organizers said.

The city government also arranges representatives of government departments related to foreign trade to conduct an annual combined examination in overseas investment intensive industrial parks, in a bid to ease burden on the companies.

The government has eliminated 14 administrative approval items in the first three quarters of this year and promoted online administrative services.

During the period, it dealt with more than 140,000 online applications, ranking the second in the province.