(Yicai Global) July 25 -- On the 100-day countdown to the second China International Import Expo, the General Administration of Customs today announced the establishment of an exclusive customs office at the main venue, the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai, to comprehensively upgrade the level of customs clearance for the CIIE.

Dang Xiaohong, deputy head of the Department of Port Control of the GAC, said at a press conference that the customs office at the CIIE main venue will manage and coordinate the monitoring resources of international exhibitions and provide the expo with year-round, all-inclusive services, including providing unified tax guarantees for participating corporate exhibitors, simplifying approval and quarantine procedures, and setting up priority VIP channels.

Dang pointed out that the GAC specially formulated 13 measures to offer convenience during the first CIIE, and completed the supervision of 1,046 exhibits, with a total value of CNY1 billion (USD145.5 million), helping corporate exhibitors to slash the overall filing and reporting time by about two-thirds.

At the same time, in order to protect the legitimate rights and interests of CIIE exhibitors, the Shanghai Municipal Intellectual Property Bureau also announced today that it will provide priority examination services regarding patents for exhibiting commodities during the exhibition, and will issue relevant service guidelines soon.

The CIIE is the world's first national-level expo dedicated solely to imports. Last year's inaugural six-day event attracted more than 3,600 companies from 172 nations, regions and international organizations while logging intentional turnover of USD57.8 billion.