E-commerce made a big stride in Pingtan, Fujian province on July 30 after local authorities started piloting the "direct import" mode for overseas commodities, local news portal ptnet.cn reported.

A batch of imported goods are shipped from Taiwan to Pingtan on July 30 via the "direct import" mode which is faster than usual import methods. [Photo/ptnet.cn]

The first goods from Taiwan, including 118 items worth 27,000 yuan, were shipped to Pingtan at noon via the “direct import” mode.

The imported items were mainly cosmetics, health products, paper diapers, baby formula and snack food. They were cleared after two hours and distributed to other parts of the mainland.

The import cooperation was jointly carried out by a Taiwan logistics company and two online business companies, one in Fujian and one in Taiwan.

Compared with other import methods, “direct import” goes through the customs process much faster .

After customers place orders online, the overseas enterprise ships goods in bulk to the mainland, where customs and quarantine inspectors take a sampling checkup on the goods before clearing them all, explained Lin Ling, an official at the Pingtan Customs.

Inspectors also compare digital orders, payment vouchers and waybills.

Trade-Van, the Taiwan e-commerce enterprise, was satisfied with the efficiency of the first import, and was optimistic about the growth of e-commerce in Pingtan in the future.

“Pingtan has advantages in sea transportation with Taiwan. With fast customs clearance, it is now a golden channel for ‘direct import’,” said Chen Zhongyuan, general manager of the Maohong E-commerce Co, a subsidiary of Trade-Van based in Pingtan.

After its business grows more significantly in the mainland, the company will set up a warehouse in Pingtan to make it become a distributing center for “direct import” in the mainland, he added.

Pingtan will normalize “direct import” and make it an important operational mode of cross-border e-commerce, said Lin Xinlu, an official at local business bureau.