A consignment of imported goods brought in by COMAC Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Co Ltd – the producer of passenger jetliners and aircraft parts, as well as aircraft maintenance and assembly services – arrived at the Yangshan Free Trade Zone in the Lin-gang Special Area in Shanghai on March 3, after being checked by Yangshan Customs.

The products, worth $21,500, were covered by the first import goods declaration completed by the company as a resident enterprise of the zone – in a commercial transaction which also marked the start of operations of Phase II of the Yangshan FTZ.

The area occupied by the Yangshan FTZ has now expanded to 22.36 square kilometers, including the southern part of Shanghai Pudong International Airport.

In the process of being incorporated into the Yangshan FTZ, COMAC Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Co Ltd encountered a problem because it has two production plants – respectively, located inside and outside of the Yangshan FTZ – meaning it needed the introduction of special customs procedures.

Shanghai Customs rose to the challenge and together with the Lin-gang Special Area Administration and the company, creatively rolled out a new supervision scheme to meet the requirements of the integrated supervision and operation of the two plants.

The Yangshan FTZ, established in May 2020, is currently said to be the customs special supervision zone with the highest degree of opening up and the biggest number of reforms in China.

The value of imports and exports in the FTZ last year hit 129.49 billion yuan ($20.5 billion), up 28 percent year-on-year.

Container vessels load up in Yangshan Port, in Shanghai. [Photo/Ji Haixin for CHINA DAILY]