SW of China

As one of the innovations introduced and tested in Shanghai Free Trade Zone, Shanghai International Trade Single Window test run on October 1,2013, and launched it's 1.0 version on June 30, 2015.

It is free of charge to register your business in the system but you have to pay to use particular modules. However, as a promotion effort, you may be granted a free trial period for some modules upon application. The Single Window system currently has six modules:

1. Import & Export Declaration;
2. Transportation Declaration;
3. Transaction Settlement;
4. Business Qualification;
5. Trade Controls;
6. Information Inquiry.

To make the system functional requires the synergy of many authorities, for instance Customs, Inspection & Quarantine, Maritime, Border Security, Commerce, Taxation, Foreign Exchange, FDA, and Forestry etc. As a result, the Single Window system enables economic operators to submit trade information to these regulatory bodies once and for all.

On the one hand, it can save economic operators a lot of time without repeating the submission to various authorities. On the other hand, it allows authorities to process the formalities simultaneously with more communication and collaboration. Together, it has the potential to reduce the clearance time from days to hours.

In addition to Shanghai, Single Window system is also under construction in Tianjin and Ningbo, two major ports to the north and the south of Shanghai respectively. If standards can be considered in advance, it will be much easier for the integration of Single Window systems at regional or even national level in the future.

In addition, many single window sysytems spring up like mushrooms in China in 2015. Fujian launched it's single window on April 21, Tianjin on July 1, Jiangsu on August 11, Ningbo on September 1. And there are also many trail operation systems runing, Hangzhou test it's platform on June 1, 2015, Guangzhou on June 30, 2015, Fujian on August 24, 2015, Shandong on October 13, Liaoning on October 30.

China Single Window List