China’s General Administration of Customs (GAC) announced on Wednesday that it will launch customs clearance reform in Beijing and Tianjin on July 1, which will be expanded to neighboring Hebei province around October.
The GAC said the reform will unify customs clearance in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province, through sharing a new information system of customs declaration, risk control, data checks and site work.
The reform will also cover sectors like supervision on tariff-free zones, cracking down on smuggling, business management and inspection, the GAC said.
The administration said the reform will make customs clearance more convenient in the area and local enterprises will be able to choose any customs of the three places.
The reform will be promoted in other areas like the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta with faster economic development and frequent customs clearance, according to the GAC.
The area of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province is China’s third developed economic zone and saw foreign trade volume of $612.5 billion in 2013, 14.7 percent of the country’s total.