(Yicai) Aug. 21 -- Shanghai’s Yangshan Special Comprehensive Bonded Zone launched the construction of its "Digital Comprehensive Bonded Zone" this month, aiming at driving digital transformation across businesses and breaking down data silos between different stakeholders. This shift could cut logistics costs for companies by almost 30 percent, Yicai learned from industry insiders.

The Digital Bonded Zone will link the information management service platform in the Lingang Special Area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone with the data platforms used by logistics, warehousing and financing providers. This integration is designed to not only significantly improve operational efficiency but also to enable smart oversight of business transactions.

Shandong Energy (Hainan) Smart International Technology, for example, was able to secure financing against a shipment of goods that arrived at Yangshan Port on Aug. 18 the very next day, thanks to the new system, said Zhao Yun, deputy director of the company’s Business Management Department. The data integration enables electronic bills of lading, delivery orders and warehouse receipts from different agencies to be merged into one, greatly streamlining the workflow.

Under the traditional model it would normally take five to seven working days to complete such pledge financing, Zhao said. Using electronic warehouse receipts enables banks to dispense funds in real time, boosting companies’ cash turnover efficiency by over 80 percent. This system can lower logistics costs by 30 percent and save the industry hundreds of millions of Chinese yuan, equivalent to tens of millions of US dollars, in operating expenses every year, he added.

The integrated data platform uses blockchain distributed ledger technology to record the full lifecycle of cross-border shipping documents. This not only gives financial institutions reliable proof to conduct trade financing but also speeds up importers and exporters’ access to funds.

Better digital management inside the bonded zone also means more business opportunities.

“ZF Automotive Systems Remanufacturing (Shanghai)’s bonded repair services in Yangshan used to only serve the Chinese market,” said Wu Shengming, remanufacturing manager of the firm. “However, since the launch of the Digital Bonded Zone, the service process has become more transparent to potential customers, and our services now cover almost the entire globe. We have received maintenance requests from customers in South Korea, Australia, and even the Americas.”

Editors: Tang Shihua, Kim Taylor