Si Wenyong, sales manager of Ningshing Ubay International Trade Co, introduces the company's products to a foreign buyer.[Photo by Yu Yan for China Daily]

Ningshing Ubay International Trade Company sees potential for business growth amid the economic downturn influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic. It attributes that potential to the company's own efforts as well as local customs' innovation in the service process.

Statistics from Ningbo Customs show that during the June 18 shopping festival this year, the company completed 2.34 million declaration lists of bonded imports for cross-border e-commerce, with a total value reaching 440 million yuan ($62.09 million).

By last Friday, the company had sent out more than 1.98 million packages to all parts of China, valuing at more than 370 million yuan in total.

The company also had a good performance in the first months of 2020, when the virus hit the country hardest.

"From January to April, we completed imports worth $192 million, up 60 percent from the same period in 2019," said Shi Chenjia, general manager of Ningshing Ubay International Trade Co.

With improvement of living standards, people yearn for better lives, so they have higher requirements of consumer goods and hope to buy high-quality imported goods, the company said.

To cope, the company has established professional teams engaged in product selection, operation, marketing and customer services.

Paying close attention to Chinese consumers' needs, the company looks for products they prefer, and guide overseas brands to improve and innovate according to those needs.

According to the company, sales revenue from a kind of noodles imported from South Korean has reached 620 million yuan so far this year, with an average monthly sales of 100 million yuan.

Undertaking its responsibility to contribute to epidemic prevention and control, the company spent 1.5 million yuan to assist government departments in purchasing masks and thermometers, Shi said.

The company also purchased 250,000 masks and delivered them to Australia and Italy to support epidemic prevention and control efforts overseas.

To facilitate the development of cross-border e-commerce, the local customs has made efforts in innovating and reforming procedures, which helps enterprises increase operation efficiency, according to the Ningbo Customs.

"Because there are more imported products and more overseas suppliers in the free trade zone, we launched new notification procedures of 'tally first and record later'," said Che Yanhong, a section chief with the Ningbo Free Trade Zone Customs.

The streamlined procedures help cross-border e-commerce operators complete tally, notification and start sales at a high rate of speed, Che said.

Ningbo Customs also introduced a tax guarantee policy, which has brought significant benefits to companies.

Ningshing Ubay International Trade Co is one of the first cross-border e-commerce operators in Ningbo to benefit from the supportive policies, which have helped the company greatly reduce funding pressure and increase financial liquidity.