NE China bonded zone to carry out e-commerce with Russia

A comprehensive bonded zone in northeast China's Jilin Province has been approved by the General Administration of Customs as a pilot cross-border e-commerce program.

Work will start this year on an e-commerce industrial park with an area of two square kilometers, Changchun Xinglong Comprehensive Bonded Zone, in the capital city of Changchun, sources with the municipal government said on Wednesday.

The park hopes to attract at least 70 e-commerce businesses within three years, together with more than 500 supporting companies. Besides Russia, the park will deal with Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Mongolia.

In preparation for constructing the base, Changchun is planning talks with several Russian cities in July over issues such as customs clearance and cargo flights.

"The bonded zone has unparalleled advantages in customs clearance and logistics in developing cross-border e-commerce," said Lyu Dong, deputy head of the Xinglong bonded zone.

Cross-border e-commerce has boomed over the past few years. It is estimated that turnover exceeded 3.1 trillion yuan (502 billion U.S. dollars) in 2013.