Rugao customs officials help Asia Symbol with clearance procedures. [Photo/Nantong Daily]

A shipment of more than 8,000 metric tons of imported pulp recently arrived at Changyuan International Terminal at Rugao Port and was swiftly cleared through customs, allowing the cargo to be transported immediately to the production facilities of Asia Symbol Jiangsu.

Asia Symbol, a key foreign-invested project in Rugao, specializes in the production of high-end food-grade white paperboard, widely used in pharmaceutical packaging and premium consumer goods boxes. With an annual production capacity of 1.2 million tons, the company relies on imported pulp for more than 90 percent of its raw materials, consuming nearly 2,000 tons per day.

Previously, imported pulp had to be transshipped through ports such as Shanghai and Changshu before being transported by road to the factory, involving multiple links and high costs.

To address these challenges, Rugao Customs established a dedicated service team to provide tailored policy guidance, including briefings on RCEP tariff concessions and new regulatory requirements for imported recycled pulp. The team also assisted the company in standardizing declaration procedures and optimizing logistics solutions, helping shift transportation from roads to waterways and enabling raw materials to be delivered directly to the plant. To date, these measures have helped the company save more than 1 million yuan ($142690.44) in logistics costs and taxes.

Rugao Customs has also implemented an integrated clearance model where companies can complete key procedures such as declaration and review before vessels arrive, while customs authorities conduct document verification and risk assessment in parallel. Once the ship berths, on-site inspections are carried out promptly, and qualified pulp is hoisted directly from the vessel onto company trucks, eliminating intermediate warehousing.

This model has reduced customs clearance time by more than 70 percent and lowered logistics costs by 30 percent.

Since the beginning of this year, Rugao Customs has cleared a total of 487,000 tons of imported pulp for Asia Symbol, with a cargo value exceeding 1.98 billion yuan, representing year-on-year increases of 76.99 percent and 65.84 percent, respectively.