With less than two weeks left in the opening of the second annual China International Import Expo (CIIE), the Shanghai port has seen thousands of exhibits coming in. Shanghai authorities have taken several measures to improve the efficiency of sending them through various border procedures.

Libra, a vessel of China COSCO SHIPPING Corporation Limited (COSCO SHIPPING), carried over two tons of French red wine to Shanghai this week. Officers from the Immigration Inspection, Customs and Maritime Safety Administration boarded the ship together for inspection upon its arrival.

"The joint inspection saved us about two hours. We don't have to wait for inspection from different departments one by one," said Chen Leihui, captain of Libra.

Items to be exhibited at the CIIE have been sailing into Shanghai for over a month now. The joint inspection is just one of the many measures that have been taken to improve the efficiency of various procedures.

"Shipping companies can submit the information of ships, seamen and goods online in advance, and we can examine them and get the inspection procedures done before the ships arrive in Shanghai," Wang Zhibin, deputy commander of P.R.C. Yangshan Immigration Inspection Station, said.

That means ships can start unloading right after they are pulled in to shore. The French red wine is the last batch of European exhibits for the CIIE shipped by COSCO SHIPPING.

"We have shipped over 40 batches of goods from more than 200 exhibitors for the CIIE this year. We provided some customized logistics services and shipping routes for exhibitors with special demands," said Zhou Yiwen from COSCO Shipping Lines Import Expo Logistics Operation Team.

The customs authorities have also sped up clearance procedures, reducing the logistical and time costs for CIIE items, leaving them more time for preparing for the exhibition. 

"We have opened the green channel for CIIE items and deployed officers especially dealing with these goods, to make sure they can go through the customs clearance at any time they arrive," Song Wei, deputy director of Wusong Customs, said.

Goods arriving afterwards will be mainly transported to Shanghai by air, as the expo is just around the corner. The exhibits will be on display at the CIIE in less than two weeks, bringing the latest trends and the most attractive products from all over the world to Chinese customers.