According to the press conference held by the Information Office of the Chongqing Municipal Government on July 27, the construction of the Yongchuan Comprehensive Bonded Zone has started. As the sixth comprehensive bonded zone approved in Chongqing, it will further facilitate the building of Chongqing into a leader in inland opening-up.

Yongchuan is an important node city in Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle. A few days ago, the State Council approved the establishment of the Yongchuan Comprehensive Bonded Zone in Chongqing. The comprehensive bonded zone covers a planned area of 1.11 square kilometers, with the development area of supporting industries outside the encircling gear reaching about 20 square kilometers. Differing from other comprehensive bonded zones, this one in Yongchuan is not along the border and not near the sea or a river. It is one of the few comprehensive bonded zones in China with land transportation as the main feature.

Wang Hanfeng, deputy mayor of Yongchuan District, introduced that Yongchuan Comprehensive Bonded Zone lies in the central axis of the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle. It can speed up the efforts to strengthen areas of weakness in opening up the central area of the economic circle and lead the adjacent areas to accelerate their integration into the construction of the Belt and Road and the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

Based on the local industrial advantages and that of the surrounding areas, Yongchuan is going to place its focus on the development of bonded processing, bonded logistics, bonded maintenance, etc. It will strive to build an important open platform in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, an important modern manufacturing import and export processing base in Chongqing, and a unique service trade demonstration base in western China.

The first phase of the Yongchuan Comprehensive Bonded Zone covers an overall floorage of about 88,000 square meters, with an investment of 560 million yuan or so. The construction tasks comprise a comprehensive service building, five factory buildings, an inspection area, a quarantine treatment area, a bonded warehouse, 8.67-kilometer-long internal roads, etc. At present, Yongchuan is expediting the building of its comprehensive bonded zone in a bid to ensure completion and application for pre-assessment and acceptance in April 2022 as well as the application for formal acceptance by the state at the end of that June.

Chongqing has formed a functional platform system of special customs supervision areas (bonded places of supervision) that consist of six comprehensive bonded zones and four bonded logistics centers. The comprehensive bonded zones include Lianglu-Cuntan, Xiyong, Jiangjin, Fuling, Wanzhou, and Yongchuan.

According to Gong Zhiyong, member of the Party Leadership Group of Chongqing Municipal Commission of Commerce, in 2020, the total foreign trade value of comprehensive bonded zones in Chongqing reached 457.56 billion yuan, up 14.2%, accounting for more than 70% of Chongqing's total. Comprehensive bonded zones have become a major platform for developing Chongqing into a leader in inland opening-up, an important engine for the city's industrial restructuring, and essential support for its sustainable and healthy economic development.