Buses loaded with boat accessories travel to deliver the goods to Sea Beijing ship. [Photo/zhoushan.cn]

Ten trucks from Zhoushan delivered boat accessories to Sea Beijing, a Marshall Islands ship berthing at a shipyard in the city, on Sept 1.

This cargo, weighing 1.31 metric tons and worth 17 million yuan ($2.63 million), set a new record in Zhoushan for the biggest single material supply to international ship deal.

"There are certain requirements for the supply of boat accessories to international ships in terms of delivery time," said Wang Yiting, general manager of the supplier Zhoushan Fengwang Ship Service Co Ltd. "However, the paperless and early customs clearance at Zhoushan Port have greatly improved the efficiency of goods delivery and reduced our costs."

The time required for boat accessories' customs clearance at Zhoushan Port used to be one to two working days. However, now it only takes just one to two hours, according Wang.

"The deal also shows the fruitful results of Zhoushan's investment attraction efforts," noted Shen Yibin from the Zhoushan shipping and port bureau.

In recent years, Zhoushan has bolstered efforts to become an international maritime service base, attracting leading international ship service companies from home and abroad.

Currently, the city has transformed from a supplier of living materials and other general materials to one that supplies boat accessories and other high-value materials.

High-value materials has accounted for about 70 percent of the total materials provided by Zhoushan to international ships.

In 2020, Zhoushan's material supply to international ships exceeded $700 million, a 410 percent increase from 2017 and ranking third in China. In the first seven months of the year, the figure stood at $415 million, a year-on-year increase of 10 percent, and is expected to reach $850 million by the end of the year.