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An aerial view of Jiaxing Port. [Photo/Tide News]

Jiaxing Port has recently been approved by the General Administration of Customs as the first comprehensive designated supervision site within the Hangzhou Customs jurisdiction, Tide News reported on Feb 3.

This approval marks a significant milestone, enabling Jiaxing to directly import fruits, meat, edible aquatic animals, and chilled aquatic products.

Designated supervision sites are critical for customs inspections, examinations, and quarantine of specific high-risk imported plants and animals and their products. To achieve this status, a site must undergo a rigorous process including feasibility assessments and project approvals by provincial governments, agreement from China's General Administration of Customs, and successful construction and acceptance checks.

The comprehensive designated supervision site at Jiaxing Port is located within the Supply Chain Platform for Bulk Temperature-Controlled Commodities in the Yangtze River Delta (Jiaxing Port Area). This platform, recognized as a national key cold chain logistics base by the National Development and Reform Commission, was fully completed and operational by the end of 2023. It spans 84,000 square meters and can store up to 120,000 metric tons of refrigerated and frozen goods.

A storage facility in Jiaxing Port. [Photo/Tide News]

Since the project approval in early 2024, over 20 million yuan ($2.77 million) has been invested in the site, enhancing infrastructure with new gateways, yards, refrigeration, fumigation, high-pressure harmless treatment, and inspection equipment. The intelligent supervision system has also been upgraded, with more than 60 of the 160 surveillance cameras integrated with the customs supervision system, allowing real-time monitoring of the cold storage facilities.

Jiaxing boasts the largest fruit wholesale market in East China and significant seafood and meat wholesale markets. The new comprehensive supervision site at Jiaxing Port is expected to attract cold chain logistics industries, further expanding the port's functions.

The Yangtze River Delta platform has already secured agreements with several renowned domestic fruit importers, with the first batch of imported fruits anticipated to arrive at Jiaxing Port in March.