This photo taken on April 9, 2025 shows the site of a firm specializing in flight simulator R&D and training inside the comprehensive bonded zone of Beijing Daxing International Airport in Beijing, capital of China. [Photo/Xinhua]

A truck loaded with 1.3 tonnes of clothing, hats, sunglasses and other goods departed from the cross-border e-commerce warehouse at the comprehensive bonded zone of Beijing Daxing International Airport (BDIA), heading to the international cargo terminal of China Southern Air Logistics Co., Ltd. at the airport.

At 4 p.m., these made-in-China daily necessities were shipped to Tashkent in Uzbekistan via flight CZ6027.

"Almost every flight on this route carries goods in and out of the bonded zone," said Song Bing, a manager at the logistics company.

Comprehensive bonded zones are customs-supervised areas with streamlined clearance procedures, serving as vital platforms for China's opening-up endeavors. Policies such as tax refunds upon entry, bonded imports and the free flow of goods within the zone help enterprises significantly reduce institutional transaction costs.

Over 160 such zones nationwide play a crucial role in expanding trade, attracting foreign investment and driving industrial upgrades.

At the BDIA bonded zone, trucks carrying goods arrive continuously. Inside bonded warehouses and production workshops, modern machinery operates at full capacity, fueling a bustling environment featuring manufacturing and research and development (R&D).

Having settled in the zone in 2022, Beijing CRS Medical Device Co., Ltd. now produces 700,000 dental implants annually, serving clients nationwide.

"Our imported equipment and materials from Germany and Japan enter the zone duty-free. Taxes are only paid when our products are sold outside the zone in China, easing our financial pressure," said Xu Chang, manager of the company's external relations department.

In 2024, duty exemptions on imported machinery alone saved them over 2.7 million yuan (374,558 U.S. dollars), and the company plans to expand production and explore global markets, Xu added.

Straddling Beijing and Hebei Province in north China, the bonded zone saw its foreign trade value grow by fourfold to reach 9.89 billion yuan in 2024, said Zhang Jizhou, deputy head of BDIA customs, adding that more enterprises are encouraged to settle there to boost regional foreign trade.

Fan Taoyu, general manager of the north China marketing center of China Southern Air Logistics, said the company's cargo terminal at BDIA had handled more than 35,000 tonnes of cross-border e-commerce goods, electronics, industrial accessories and agricultural products in 2024, linking to markets in Europe and Asia via hubs like London, Amsterdam and Tashkent.

"The BDIA bonded zone is unleashing growing potential, benefiting logistics firms like us," said Fan.

Despite global challenges, China's trade value continues to rise, with bonded zones serving as important drivers of such growth. The country's total goods imports and exports in yuan-denominated terms expanded 1.3 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2025, demonstrating stable growth and strong resilience, according to the General Administration of Customs (GAC).

In the first two months of this year, two comprehensive bonded zones in the coastal city of Qingdao in east China's Shandong Province saw over 20 billion yuan in total foreign trade value -- up 6 percent year on year, while bonded zones in Anhui Province, also in east China, recorded trade value of 23.11 billion yuan, a 16.1 percent increase.

Beyond trade growth, bonded zones are accelerating industrial transformation, leveraging policies to establish R&D centers and foster high-tech industries. In May 2024, the GAC introduced 23 measures to advance high-quality development in comprehensive bonded zones.

Notably, the BDIA bonded zone welcomed a firm specializing in flight simulator R&D and training, which trained 1,000 airline personnel in 2024. Meanwhile, Beijing's Zhongguancun comprehensive bonded zone, the country's first bonded zone featuring R&D and innovation, hosts a series of tech companies, dedicating 90 percent of its space to experimental R&D.

"Joining the zone means saving costs on tax-free R&D equipment and bonded materials, allowing us to focus on innovation," said Wang Shicheng, chairman and general manager of Beijing Soaring Electric Technology Co., Ltd., a clean energy and energy saving tech firm based in the Zhongguancun bonded zone.