Xiamen Port in East China's Fujian province ranks first in China in terms of business climate. [Photo/VCG]

The coastal city of Xiamen ranked first in China in terms of its port business environment according to a report released at a news conference held in Beijing on Dec 11. It was followed by the Qingdao, Guangzhou, and Ningbo ports.

The report, jointly released by the China Association of International Trade and the China Customs Brokers Association, focused on the business environments of container ports. Xiamen ranked first in three categories, including cost index in cross-border trade.

The city, which reaps benefits from the Xiamen Free Trade Zone, has released a wide range of policies since 2016 to speed up the development of its port business. The policies include tax reductions, which have greatly improved the city's competitiveness. Administrative fees at Xiamen Port are currently among the lowest of the mainland's major ports, which has helped reduce the annual costs of shipping enterprises by about 160 million yuan ($22.9 million).

In addition, a smart logistics platform for containers was introduced to Xiamen Port in 2017. The platform, which won the highest honor at the Science and Technology Progress Awards for China Ports, was titled a demonstration project for smart ports by the Ministry of Transport. The platform has been successful in increasing the port's efficiency and has saved enterprises around 100 million yuan per year.

Xiamen Port continues to explore new possibilities and has offered incentives for improving the efficiency of customs clearance at ports. According to statistics, by the end of November, the overall time for both import and export customs clearance had been shortened significantly, being reduced by 66.8 percent and 81.9 percent, respectively, since 2017.