Hangzhou has gained another “seaport.”

On August 14, at the Xiasha Port Terminal in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, container trucks orderly entered the newly designated customs supervision operation site, waiting for inspection and clearance. Not far away, the signing ceremony between Hangzhou Jiaotou Port Group and Ningbo Ocean Shipping was completed simultaneously. Starting that day, export goods from Hangzhou's foreign trade enterprises could clear customs directly at the local port and reach the Ningbo-Zhoushan Port for export via the river-sea intermodal route.

Xiasha Port is Hangzhou's first inland port capable of handling thousand-ton vessels. The launch of the customs supervision operation site signifies that Xiasha Port now officially possesses the full capability for local customs clearance and import-export operations for foreign trade goods. The fragmented experience of "inspection at the port, clearance waiting in Ningbo" for goods from Hangzhou manufacturing enterprises will become a thing of the past. Leveraging the digital platform "Zhejiang e-Port," Xiasha Port is actively exploring a new model of integrated development for port operations, customs services, and shipping services, truly becoming the "gateway to the sea" for Hangzhou enterprises.

"Previously, exporting sofas required coordinating several steps, including empty container allocation, road transit clearance, and port inspections. Now, with the 'Xiasha–Zhapu–Ningbo' river-sea intermodal route, inspections and clearance are done directly at the terminal, reducing overall logistics costs by about 20%," said the head of the logistics department at KUKA Home. "The 'one-stop' customs clearance model saves time and effort, and the company will steadily increase the proportion of shipments through Xiasha Port, fully leveraging the advantages of having a port at our doorstep."

Xiasha Port is a core supporting hub of the second channel of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. Relying on its unique waterway location advantages, it has opened 13 shipping routes to Zhapu, Ningbo-Zhoushan Port, and other destinations. With 64-container ships operating daily round trips, the river-sea intermodal network is becoming increasingly mature. The launch of the customs supervision operation site has turned the vision of "river ports functioning like sea ports" into reality.

"Ports are the interface through which cities reduce costs for foreign trade enterprises," said a relevant person in charge at Hangzhou Jiaotou Group. With the launch of the Xiasha Port supervision site, Hangzhou's local inland port capable of handling thousand-ton vessels now has complete port-side supervision functions for the first time. Foreign trade enterprises in Qiantang, Linping, Xiaoshan, as well as surrounding areas like Shaoxing and Jiaxing, no longer need to worry about 'finding a port, waiting for inspections, or allocating empty containers.'