The Yangshan Deep Water Port – one of main units of the Shanghai port in East China - handles 24 inbound and outbound vessels on average every day and has loaded and unloaded an average of 63,000 twenty-foot equivalent units, or TEUs, containers daily since 2021, according to statistics released by Yangshan Immigration Inspection Office on Jan 19.

The container throughput of Yangshan port totaled 202.2 million TEUs last year, ranking its first in the world for the 11th consecutive year. The latest statistics from the port show it is continuing to do well so far in 2021.

The mighty Yangtze River flows into the East China Sea -- north of Shanghai, which is part of the Yangtze River Delta region that  also includes Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui province. On Dec 14, the National Immigration Administration announced 10 measures to support the construction of a Yangtze shipping hub in order to serve the country's Yangtze River Delta Integration Strategy.

After the integration of customs procedures, excessive red tape was cut down, the speed of customs' clearance and inspection was increased and the costs of the region's businesses were also cut.

"Our business is across Shanghai and Zhejiang and we truly sense the convenience of the integration of customs clearances in the Yangtze River Delta regions, which saves time and avoids repeated handling of the certificates," an employee of Zhejiang Shengsi Huapu Shipping Co Ltd said.

According to the Yangshan Immigration Inspection Office, since the announcement of NIA's measures 113 ships have been exempted from entry and exit procedures while sailing from the Yangtze River Delta to Yangshan port, with 46 inbound ships going through the ingress and egress formalities at one time.

Containers are piled up, awaiting customs clearance at Yangshan Deep Water Port on Jan 1. [Photo/for China Daily by Ji Haixin]