A container terminal in the Shihu Port Area of Quanzhou Port glows as nighttime operations keep the port busy. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

China's first batch of pilot programs for water-water multimodal transport has begun in Fujian province, marking the rollout of a new clearance model designed to streamline cargo movement across domestic ports before overseas export.

The pilot is part of a broader initiative by the General Administration of Customs of China (GAC) to optimize supervision of multimodal transport and improve logistics efficiency for both imports and exports. Under the new model, enterprises can complete customs procedures through a single customs declaration, a single transport document, and the end-to-end use of a single container, reducing the need for repeated formalities during transshipment.

Under the supervision of Quanzhou Customs on Jan 27, a shipment of polyester filament yarn valued at 190,000 yuan ($27,347) departed the Shihu Port Area of Quanzhou Port and was transferred via Yangpu Port in Hainan province before being exported to Pakistan.

The pilot follows a GAC announcement issued on Jan 20 that expands multimodal transport supervision from export rail–road services to include sea–rail transport and water-water transshipment for both imports and exports. Fuzhou Customs and Xiamen Customs were selected for the first batch of pilot units, with routes such as Quanzhou–Yangpu and Xiamen Dongdu–Fuzhou Mawei.

The new model simplifies procedures, enables more flexible vessel scheduling in Fujian, and it is expected to reduce clearance times by more than 30 percent and overall logistics costs by over 20 percent.