The General Administration of Customs has formally approved the establishment of a bonded logistics centre (type B) in the Suzhou New and High Technology Development Zone. This is one of the first three bonded logistics centres (type B) approved to be set up in China.
Preparation for the construction of the centre started in September 2004. After the planning, design, discussion, development and construction stage, phase one of the project has basically completed. With an area of 232,000 sqm, the centre is an operating platform for international transshipment, international sourcing, international distribution and international re-export. It performs the various functions of import and export bonded zones, including those of a direct customs supervision centre, public bonded warehouse and export supervision warehouse. It is a special closed zone under customs supervision and is in effect a mini free trade zone.
After the establishment of the bonded logistics centre (type B), Suzhou New and High Technology Development Zone will have the benefit of zone-port interaction exclusive to bonded zones in the past. For processing trade enterprises operating under zero inventory and global sourcing, especially IT enterprises, it will no longer be difficult to achieve delivery within two days for 98% of their goods. Logistics cost will also be reduced by about 10%.
