The Fujian-Guangdong-Hong Kong SELS is implemented at Xiamen Xiangyu Comprehensive Bonded Zone. [Photo/Xiamen Daily]
A truck carrying 3 metric tons of electronic components worth 1 million yuan ($146,937) departed from the Xiamen Postal and Express Supervision Center on May 19.
The shipment marked the first export cargo to use the new "single declaration, two submissions" model under the Fujian-Guangdong-Hong Kong Single E-Lock Scheme (SELS), a cross-border road cargo clearance program piloted by Xiamen Customs.
On the same day, an import shipment declared under the same model also left Hong Kong and is expected to reach Quanzhou's Jinjiang Inland Port the following day, marking the model's rollout for both imports and exports.
Under this model, companies enter cargo manifest data only once in the Chinese mainland, and the information is simultaneously received by both Chinese mainland and Hong Kong customs. This eliminates the need for separate declarations in Hong Kong.
As a result, the overall declaration time is reduced by an average of more than 30 minutes per shipment. Based on the company's current business volume, this translates to monthly savings of about 250 hours in declaration time, significantly improving customs clearance efficiency.
This change is made possible by the "single declaration, two submissions" data-sharing mechanism between Chinese mainland and Hong Kong customs.
Companies now need to enter road cargo manifest data only once into the Chinese mainland's "Single Window" system. The information is then automatically translated and sent to Hong Kong's "Single Window" for real-time data exchange between the two customs authorities.