A consignment of multivitamin capsules imported from New Zealand by social commerce platform Little Red Book (Xiaohongshu) recently arrived at Ningbo port. The company was informed that the goods were available for pick-up less than one minute after their arrival thanks to a new customs clearance model.

The person in charge of Xiaohongshu's warehousing in Ningbo said that previously this process would have taken two to three days.

However, the new model allows goods to be transported to the warehouse as long as a summarized declaration is made, and a complete declaration isn't required until all the goods are counted.

This has greatly improved the efficiency of customs clearance, cutting  processing time by about 30 hours and reduced declaration-related errors, according to Ningbo customs.

The new model has also reduced costs for import enterprises looking to set up tallying and warehousing facilities overseas and allows them to more easily establish centralized logistics centers and industrial chain management centers in Ningbo.

Taking Xiaohongshu as an example, the new customs clearance model can help the company improve its operational efficiency by 50 percent, saving 27 million yuan ($3.91 million) per year.