The State Council recently approved the establishment of the Taicang Port Comprehensive Bonded Area in Taicang city, Jiangsu province, which is expected to become the forth comprehensive bonded zone, after the Suzhou Industrial Park, and high-tech zones in Kunshan and Suzhou in Suzhou city.

The new bonded area, designed with an optimized auxiliary function in an area covering 2.07 square kilometers, will be set up on the base of the current Taicang Port Bonded Logistics Center near the port’s container pier.

The function, taxation, and foreign currency policies in the new bonded area will follow the Opinions on the Establishment of Yangshan Bonded Port Area by the State Council launched in 2010.

Under a closed management system, imported foreign goods will be bonded in the comprehensive bonded area; domestic goods will be treated as exported in the bonded area and enjoy the relevant export tax rebating policies. Goods sold outside the bonded area on the Chinese market will have to be declared as imported at the customs with due taxations. Goods transactions between companies within the bonded area are exempted from value added and consumption taxes.

In addition, departments in the city - including those focused on inspection and quarantine, foreign trade, and foreign currency - will offer privileged policies for the comprehensive bonded area.

The new bonded area will be a breakthrough for Taicang’s high-level special supervision sector by offering an ideal environment for the nation’s trials in financing, trade, investment, and tertiary industry. The area will also serve as an engine for the regional economic development in the city, according to the administrative committee of the Taicang Port Economic Development Zone.

Edited by Niva Whyman