Since Zhanjiang opened the cold chain freighter express to India and Malaysia in July this year, a total of six container freighters have been put into operation. At present, five trips are stably operated and are attached to Zhanjiang Port every week. The total container import and export volume was increased by 3,424 TEUs.

Compared with the transit through Hong Kong by barge, the cold chain express line can reduce customers logistics costs by about $100 per standard TEU and the transportation time is shortened by 7-12 days. It has opened up a cost-effective and convenient channel for aquatic enterprises to purchase imported raw materials from countries in Southeast Asia.

In July, areas under the jurisdiction of Zhanjiang Customs imported a total of 10,183 tons of aquatic products from India, with a value of 390 million yuan ($55.03 million), a year-on-year increase of 1.9 times.

Since the beginning of this year, Zhanjiang customs has promoted convenient supervision measures to help inspection of aquatic products, effectively reducing the clearance time of imported aquatic products. Zhanjiang customs also guides enterprises in applying for quarantine examination and approval procedures, continuously improving the testing capacity of aquatic products, as well as compressing quarantine approval time. In addition, it has improved the cold chain supporting facilities, promoted the construction of cold chain logistics parks, as well as the transformation and upgrading of aquatic products enterprises.

A container freighter carrying imported sea products from India and Malaysia arrives at Zhanjiang Port. [Photo/Guangzhou Daily]