[Photo/VCG]

Zhoushan, Zhejiang province has pioneered a data reuse system for ships on international voyages to help increase the efficiency of customs declaration. The system has recently been promoted by State port authorities.

The system allows ships on international voyages to declare data just one time after entering China, no matter how many ports they will berth at. Data declared at the first port can be directly reused at all subsequent ports.

According to State port authorities, the system will be implemented in Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Tianjin on a trial basis and will begin being promoted nationwide on May 1.

"We tested out the system at the end of last year on an international vessel that arrived in Zhoushan for refueling after unloading cargo in Ningbo. We used the data it declared in Ningbo and made slight adjustments. It took only five minutes for us to finish the procedure, while previously we needed around an hour," said Jiang Tao, a worker at the Zhoushan Ocean Shipping Agency.

According to Wang Xiaochun, assistant director of the Zhoushan Shipping and Port Administration, more than 40 percent of ships on international voyages berth at at least two ports. Some even berth at up to five or six ports. Data resubmission requirements have to some extent affected the operating efficiency of these ships.

More than 4,000 ships leave China from Zhoushan ports every year, 40 percent of which berth at other domestic ports before returning to the city.

State port authorities praised the new system when they came to investigate last September.