(Yicai) Jan. 30 -- Danish shipping giant Maersk has opened a multi-country consolidation center in Shanghai, in a move that is set to enhance the Chinese city’s status as an international shipping hub. 

The new center, located in the Lingang New Area of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, entered service yesterday. The first batch of import containers were from Hong Kong and Taiwan and will be sent on to the United States, the Czech Republic, Spain, France, Portugal, and Slovakia, the Lingang authorities said on WeChat today.

MCC refers to sorting cargo from abroad together with goods for export at the customs area, re-packing them, and then shipping them out. Svendborg-based Maersk decided to set up the center after trialing the business at the Port of Shanghai in late 2023, according to the announcement.

To expand the scope of the MCC business, Maersk has also launched a coastal export service. The first batch of about 230 twenty-foot equivalent units of cargo will be taken to the Port of Shanghai via Maersk's route on the east coast of South America and then to ports in Europe and the US, saving about seven days compared with the original route.

Since it was created in 2019, the Lingang New Area has continued to step up trade liberalization. The State Council, China’s cabinet, said in the latest Shanghai FTZ planning program last month that the country will optimize the operation mode for MCC platforms and attract global consolidation enterprises to set up MCC centers to facilitate customs clearance.

The Port of Shanghai’s container throughput reached 49 million TEUs last year, ranking it first in the world for the 14th straight year, with container routes covering over 700 ports in more than 200 countries and regions, according to data from Shanghai International Port Group.

Editor: Tom Litting