Harbin Customs Innovates Management Model To Enhance Enterprise Service Efficiency

Harbin Customs has established three business centers including a 'Nuclear Approval Center' to innovate management models, achieving centralized, intelligent, and specialized customs operations. This has significantly improved the efficiency of enterprise customs clearance and service quality. After the new model was implemented, the approval process was shortened, leading to a substantial increase in the utilization of tax policies by enterprises, which alleviated financial pressure and promoted sustainable local economic development.
Harbin Customs Innovates Management Model To Enhance Enterprise Service Efficiency

In today's globalized economy, businesses face increasingly complex customs procedures and growing efficiency demands in international trade. This challenging environment has prompted customs authorities worldwide to urgently improve clearance efficiency and service quality. In response, Harbin Customs has implemented systematic reforms to establish a centralized, intelligent, and professional new operational model that provides more efficient clearance services while supporting national economic development strategies.

Reform Background and Objectives

As economic globalization deepens and international trade continues to expand, customs authorities—as critical gatekeepers of foreign trade—directly impact business operational costs and competitiveness through their efficiency and service quality. Traditional clearance methods have become inadequate for modern demands amid surging trade volumes.

Recognizing the need for change, Harbin Customs established clear reform objectives: improving clearance efficiency, optimizing the business environment, safeguarding national revenue, and promoting regional economic development. The customs authority developed a comprehensive new management model through three specialized centers—the Approval Center, Audit Center, and Operations Monitoring Command Center—ensuring efficiency through centralized resource allocation and intelligent process transformation.

Building the New Management Model

1. The Approval Center: Centralized Processing

The Approval Center represents the reform's core innovation, featuring centralized approval, business process reengineering, and unified provincial management. This center replaces the previous fragmented approach with province-wide centralized processing, significantly improving approval times and reducing business wait periods.

Companies can now submit declarations remotely through the "Internet + Customs" platform rather than visiting multiple customs windows. Simple cases receive immediate approval, standard cases conclude within one day, and complex cases see substantially reduced processing times—dramatically improving operational responsiveness.

2. The Audit Center: Specialized Oversight

The newly established Audit Center adopts a professional management approach through centralized operations. By enhancing inspection efficiency, it combats illegal activities like "foreign garbage" smuggling while maintaining market stability and fairness.

Utilizing data analysis and intelligence sharing, the center ensures all clearance activities occur in a transparent environment, bolstering public trust. Staffed by highly qualified professionals, it also provides expert consulting services—helping businesses leverage policy benefits while ensuring regulatory compliance.

3. The Operations Monitoring Command Center: Real-Time Supervision

This technologically advanced center enables real-time customs monitoring through closed-circuit surveillance systems that track cross-border vehicles and goods at all ports. By analyzing centralized X-ray images and replacing physical inspections with non-intrusive methods, it accelerates clearance while improving accuracy.

The system minimizes operational disruptions for businesses, eliminating delays caused by prolonged inspections and reducing capital immobilization—thereby enhancing overall supply chain efficiency.

Advancing Intelligent Processes

Harbin Customs has prioritized digital transformation to address efficiency bottlenecks caused by manual processes. Since implementation, 82% of businesses now complete procedures through the "Internet + Customs" platform, eliminating cumbersome in-person submissions.

The integration of audio-video systems has streamlined business-customs communication, resolving issues that previously required multiple visits. Companies submit documents online and receive prompt feedback after customs review, substantially reducing time and labor costs.

Business Feedback and Impact Assessment

Companies have widely praised Harbin Customs' reforms. Gao Jingfeng, Asia-Pacific Customs Director at Volvo Cars (Asia Pacific) Investment Holdings, reported that the Approval Center simplified complex auto parts import procedures, improving operational efficiency by approximately 50% and reducing working capital requirements by hundreds of thousands of yuan.

"The reform has been like nourishing spring rain, allowing companies to enjoy superior services and policy benefits that significantly advance long-term development," said executives from Harbin Aircraft Industry Group and Harbin Turbine Company.

Utilization of relevant tax policies has surged from under 50% to 95% since the Approval Center's launch, demonstrating the reforms' tangible benefits.

Future Directions

Facing increasingly complex global trade dynamics, Harbin Customs recognizes that reform extends beyond process simplification to deep understanding of business needs and continuous service improvement. Future efforts will align with national reform strategies and Heilongjiang Province's development priorities.

Jin Yanyong, Harbin Customs' Director, emphasized ongoing commitment to business-centric services, talent development, and digital transformation. "We will accelerate enterprise engagement and implement fully online customs processes through modern management methods, delivering ever more efficient clearance services," he stated.

Through its innovative three-center model, Harbin Customs has not only dramatically improved clearance efficiency but also stimulated regional economic growth. Moving forward, the authority will continue enhancing professionalization and intelligence to maintain Heilongjiang's competitive edge in international markets.