"Since 2021, Xiamen’s maritime express to Taiwan has experienced explosive growth" "In 2023, the volume of Xiamen-Taiwan maritime express in the city increased by 2.5 times compared with that in 2022, and increased by more than 10 times compared with that in 2021" "Since the cruise control center was put into use for one year, a total of 735,000 cross-border e-commerce parcels to Taiwan have been completed" …
Recently, on the occasion of the first anniversary of its official use, the Cross-border E-commerce and Maritime Express Supervision Center of the cruise center in Xiamen Free Trade Zone (referred to as the cruise supervision center) released relevant data, showing that the center and the cruise terminal focused on the direction of Taiwan, constantly improved the construction of cross-strait maritime logistics channels, especially through innovation to create a mode of "integration of stations and terminals", and took the lead in realizing the efficient coordination of cross-border e-commerce goods and maritime express shipments from Taiwan.
"Continuously optimize the logistics channel of shipping express mail to Taiwan and improve the cross-strait logistics distribution system." According to the relevant person in charge of the Xiamen Free Trade Zone Management Committee, in recent years, with the strong support of higher-level departments, the Free Trade Zone Management Committee, Xiamen Customs and other departments are committed to "promoting integration through communication", constantly promoting the construction of Xiamen-Taiwan maritime express logistics channels, continuously strengthening the infrastructure layout of freight logistics hubs to Taiwan, and improving the regional logistics distribution system and achieving good results.
Xiamen-Taiwan sea express has the dual advantages of "air timeliness and sea price"
This year marks the 10th anniversary of Xiamen’s approval as the first pilot city for shipping express mail to Taiwan. In the past 10 years, Xiamen’s sea express to Taiwan has attracted all the sea freight forwarders from all over the world to gather in Xiamen with the "air freight aging and sea freight price", which has formed a unique advantage of Xiamen-Taiwan Province logistics channel, covering the whole process from cargo collection, warehousing, customs clearance, trunk line, customs clearance (transit) and dispatch (transshipment).
At present, the "Southbound Passage" of shipping to Taiwan mainly serves the daily consumer goods purchased by Taiwan Province residents (such as shoes and clothing, 3C products, toys, cosmetics, household furniture, etc.) and the industrial and commercial products purchased by small and medium-sized enterprises in Taiwan Province (such as electromechanical and spare parts, etc.), that is, after thousands of small and medium-sized Taiwan Province logistics service providers from all over the world collect goods in the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, Fujian and other places, they concentrate their goods on warehouses for transshipment and packaging, and the goods are transported by trucks to Xiamen for customs declaration, and then go to Taiwan
"Xiamen’s sea express to Taiwan is divided into two trunk lines: the big three links and the small three links, with the small three links as the main one and the big three links as the supplement." According to the staff, at present, Xiamen Port operates 17 to 19 Xiamen-Jinmen "mini three links" express shipping routes every week, and stably operates Xiamen-Taipei, Xiamen-Taichung, Xiamen-Keelung and other "big three links" routes, forming a "big three links+mini three links" complementary express shipping channel to Taiwan. Among them, the "big three links" are mainly the direct ro-ro ship of COSCO Star and the direct container liner of China Airlines Six, and the "small three links" are mainly the transit flights of Xiamen-Jinhua-Taiwan (North), Xiamen-Jinhua-Gaos and Xiamen-Jinhua-Taiwan (Middle).
It is worth mentioning that the "big three links" have a large transportation volume and a short time limit; The voyage of "mini-three links" between Xiamen and Jinmen is carried by boat, with small capacity but abundant ship resources. The Xiamen-Jinmen route can operate every day according to business needs, and the Jinmen route can operate four times a week to Taipei, three times a week to Taichung and six times a week to Kaohsiung. The flexibility and high density of the "mini-three links" and the stability and strong timeliness of the "big three links" form a strong complement, ensuring that Xiamen’s maritime express mail to Taiwan will arrive at night.
"The supervision of shipping express to Taiwan and cross-border e-commerce has also been carried out simultaneously for 10 years." According to the relevant person in charge of the cruise supervision center, in 2014, the Xiamen Maritime Express and Cross-border E-commerce Supervision Center, the predecessor of the center, was established, becoming a pilot supervision platform for maritime express to Taiwan. Since then, the platform has given full play to the advantages of location, industry and shipping on both sides of Xiamen and Taiwan, created a fast and efficient maritime express channel, and connected the development of cross-border e-commerce and commercial express business on both sides of the strait, making a strong contribution to the development of cross-strait economic and trade integration.
The "southbound passage" of sea express can achieve "arrival in the morning and release on the same day" at the earliest.
During the ten years of shipping express to Taiwan, 2021 is a key node. At that time, Xiamen took the lead in opening the "Southbound Passage", and combined with the only local "point-to-point" direct cross-strait COSCO Star route, the cruise terminal formed the "integration of large and small three-way routes".
"With the characteristics of COSCO Star’s point-to-point direct flights+mini-three links, multiple voyages and high density, the full coverage of the cruise terminal to Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung has been realized, which has significantly improved Xiamen’s ability and service advantages in shipping express mail to Taiwan." The staff said.
Not only that, since the opening of the "Southbound Passage", the Xiamen Free Trade Zone Management Committee, Xiamen Customs and other departments have jointly introduced various measures to support the development of Xiamen-Taiwan maritime express business, and newly established four supervision places: cruise, Dongdu, Haicang Dongcha and Xicha, and the level of customs clearance facilitation has been continuously improved; Open more than 10 intensive voyages of "Southbound Passage" and mini-three links, and realize the "overnight arrival" of sea express; A number of new warehouses have been set up, goods from the mainland to Taiwan have gathered in Xiamen, and the core trade hub of cross-strait shipping express has been accelerated.
"Since 2021, the level of customs clearance facilitation of Xiamen sea express has been continuously optimized and improved." According to the staff, at present, the five supervision places in Xiamen (the above four newly established supervision places after 2021+the original post office supervision places) can realize the "morning arrival and the same day release" of goods as soon as possible, which greatly facilitates the pursuit of "fast" by sea express, shortens the overall customs clearance time of sea express and realizes the efficient connection with the "big and small three links" flights on the same day.
"Terminal+Wharf+Route" to Promote Xiamen-Taiwan Shipping Express to Become Bigger and Stronger
In recent years, the volume of Xiamen’s maritime express mail to Taiwan has increased explosively, and the advantage of "southbound passage" has been significantly improved, thanks to the commissioning of the cruise supervision center. In April, 2023, Xiamen Maritime Express and Cross-border E-commerce Supervision Center moved to Xiamen Cruise Center Wharf, renamed as Cruise Supervision Center, and passed the inspection by Xiamen Customs, becoming an important place for Xiamen-Jinmen cross-border E-commerce and maritime express cargo supervision and customs clearance.
It is understood that as the largest cross-business supervision place at Xiamen Port, it is also the first cross-business supervision place located in the dock area in Fujian Province and even the whole country. Since its establishment, the cruise supervision center has actively built a smart supervision warehouse by digitalization, continuously improved the software and hardware level, and innovated the logistics channel, which has improved the supervision and logistics efficiency, effectively reduced the logistics cost of Xiamen-Taiwan sea express and enhanced the competitiveness of Xiamen-Taiwan sea express channel.
In terms of hardware, at present, the center has two automatic CT machine assembly lines, "one imported and one exported"; Online automatic sorting equipment to realize automatic circulation, automatic identification and automatic sorting of cross-border e-commerce parcels; On-line electronic purse seine between the supervision center and the wharf to realize seamless circulation of container cabinets between the two supervision areas.
In terms of software, it is the first to realize the innovative operation mode of "field-port integration" of stations and terminals, and share the bayonet and purse seine with cruise terminals, so that e-commerce enterprises, regulatory sites, customs and terminals can achieve efficient cooperation of "entering the port as soon as they enter the warehouse, arriving as soon as they are released, and boarding as soon as they arrive"; Re-customized the development of the terminal information management system, and the cross-border e-commerce package was compressed to 2 hours from entering the supervision center to completing the shipment, which improved the efficiency by 50% compared with the original model.
In order to greatly improve the time limit for customs clearance, the customs of cruise port went deep into upstream and downstream enterprises to investigate and visit, and exchanged views with shipowners, stations, e-commerce, express delivery and other enterprises, actively promoted regulatory innovation and process innovation in view of the pain points and difficulties of the industry, and constantly improved customs clearance service guarantee. According to the characteristics of processing time and ship shift time of sea express goods, customs clearance efficiency was continuously optimized in three core links: bill review, inspection and logistics, so as to realize the "same day arrival, same day release and cross-border e-commerce parcels".
"The original supervision and logistics links such as customs clearance and trailers have been reduced." According to the staff, under the new mode, cross-border e-commerce goods and sea express goods to Taiwan enter the terminal area when they enter the supervision station. The front crane and forklift equipment are used between the station and the terminal to shift the container, and there is no need for the trailer to connect again. At the same time, a virtual electronic bayonet is set up between the station and the wharf, and the seamless connection between the station and the wharf is realized by digital means. In addition, the dock loading crane is located outside the exit release area of the station, and the crane can be directly arranged to load the released goods, which effectively prolongs the customs clearance time and greatly optimizes the shipping efficiency.
"The center will make full use of the advantages of the cruise terminal’s’ big and small three links’ route and the operation advantages of the special terminal for Taiwan, and give full play to the comprehensive service capabilities of the station+terminal+route to promote Xiamen’s maritime express to become bigger and stronger." According to the relevant person in charge of the Cruise Supervision Center, since the center was put into use, the cruise terminal has increasingly acquired the qualifications of berthing points and small-scale trade points, as well as the "one-stop" supervision service capabilities for cross-border e-commerce, fruits and aquatic products, and gradually formed a two-way logistics channel for Taiwan, with cross-border e-commerce as the main export and agricultural and fishery products for Taiwan as the main import, and accelerated the construction into a "freight logistics hub for Taiwan".
"Cross-border e-commerce and sea express have become new formats of Xiamen cruise port. The Free Trade Zone will join hands with relevant departments to continuously expand the’ southbound channel’ and promote the high-quality development of sea express to Taiwan." The relevant person in charge of the Xiamen Free Trade Zone Management Committee said that in 2023, "Express Shipping to Taiwan" was included in the Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Supporting Fujian to Explore a New Road for Cross-Strait Integration and Development and Building a Demonstration Zone for Cross-Strait Integration and Development. In January this year, the work report of Xiamen Municipal Government clearly pointed out that "it is necessary to expand the’ southbound passage’ of express shipping to Taiwan and build a distribution center for express shipping to Xiamen and Taiwan". The FTZ will lead and promote the cruise home port to seize the new opportunity of Fujian to explore cross-strait integration and development, continue to promote the construction of cross-strait logistics chain and supply chain, continuously improve the voyage of "big and small links", promote the Xiamen-Taipei point-to-point sea express direct flight channel, improve the ship class density of "mini links", create two-way commercial flights for "mini links", integrate the two-way supply of "mini links" and improve the operational efficiency of "mini links" routes; It will also give full play to the supply chain operation capability of the cruise home port group, and make use of its advantages of Jinmen warehouse, Xiamen export warehouse, supervision station, wharf and Taiwan Province route node to accelerate the construction of a logistics artery linking Xiamen and Taiwan and radiating the whole world, and promote cross-strait economic and trade integration and development. (Yu Naizhen, Zhou Ying)