Chongqing has been approved to be the first inland bonded area of China by the State Council, revealed Bo Xilai, Secretary of Chongqing Municipal Committee of the CPC, during an interview on March 6, 2010.
As bonded area, the municipality will enjoy preferential tax policies like tax rebates for exports and no taxes for trading in the area.
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Bo said the Chongqing government has taken steps to create favorable opening up conditions in recent years, and the State Council has also adopted supportive measures for the city.
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He added that Chongqing's selection as the first inland bonded area is an important beginning for the opening up of other inland cities in China.
During the past three decades of Reform and Opening-up, the promising commercial enterprises of cars, motors and laptops have improved the city’s whole industrial structure and boost its economic development.
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The secretary also mentioned that though less developed than Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai, Chongqing, favored by its unique location, will strive for further opening up and cooperation with foreign companies to become a successful and advanced inland opening area in China.
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In December 2008, the State Council approved Cuntan bonded port in Chongqing, of which Cuntan Harbor and Jiangbei International Airport are in the center of the 8.37 square kilometers. It will be completed in 2015.
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Since the construction of the first bonded area in northeastern Shanghai was approved by the State Council in May 1990, 15 have been built nationwide. Supervised by the General Administration of Customs of China, the initial services of bonded areas were for storing, transiting and processing, and focusing on logistics.
