At Shanghai Nan'gang Port, a batch of new energy vehicles is allowed to pass directly without inspection. [Photo/WeChat ID: lgqyfwj]

A slew of world-class automobile suppliers and manufacturers have established a presence in the Lin-gang Special Area, in East China's Shanghai and the local authorities have announced that bonded maintenance projects – auto parts and maintenance facilities exempt from customs and inspections – will be permitted to start operating in the current year.

With bonded maintenance, enterprises transport goods or transport vehicles with damaged parts, functional failures, quality defects and other problems from overseas into China for testing and maintenance and then transport them out of China.

The maintenance facilities are expected to handle domestic second-hand vehicles, as well as to improve the capacity for resource allocations in the international market.

To date, Lin-gang is said to have made significant progress in auto bonded maintenance and manufacturing, advanced shipping services and bulk commodities trading.

Following the official establishment of the Yangshan Free Trade Zone, the local government initiated a customs service that allows enterprises to directly take delivery of goods, not subject to license approvals or inspections.

Numerous auto enterprises are reported to have greatly benefited from this. One, a local Ford car parts processing company, is now operating at full capacity, processing 3,000 cubic meters of auto parts per week.

Xiao Hui, senior manager of Ford's logistics department, praised the local setup, the efficient clearance procedures and attractive tax policies.

The Yangshan FTZ also offers things as exemptions from separate customs account books and unlimited storage periods, which relieves the pressure on vehicle import companies to manage their funds.

As a result, world-class automobile manufacturers including Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen and Porsche have established distribution centers in Lin-gang.