The Mohan railway port, a key hub of the China-Laos Railway in southwest China's Yunnan Province, was designated as the world's first international sanitary ground crossing by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday.
The designation followed the on-site assessment by WHO experts from Dec 1 to 3, highlighting its advanced capacity to address international public health emergencies.
International sanitary ports are crossings that meet the WHO's guidelines laid out in the International Health Regulations (IHR), designed to protect the health of travelers and maintain preparedness in case of a disease outbreak.
The 1,035-kilometer China-Laos Railway, connecting China's southwestern city of Kunming with the Laotian capital of Vientiane, started operation on Dec 3, 2021.
It had handled over 43 million passenger trips and transported 48.3 million tons of cargo as of Monday, and the range of goods transported via this railway has expanded from an initial 500 varieties to more than 3,000 currently.
Major China-Laos Railway port designated as international sanitary ground crossing
China's General Administration of Customs (GAC) on Tuesday issued a customs clearance notice for the 9th Asian Winter Games scheduled for February 7-14 next year in Harbin City of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.
According to the GAC notice, the customs clearance integration regime applies to supplies that are temporarily imported for the Asian Winter Games.
Sports equipment and items for competition that are temporarily imported through freight channels can go through customs clearance procedures only when they are accompanied by the required certification documentation and material list issued by the Organizing Committee for the 9th Harbin Asian Winter Games 2025, the notice says.
For consumables that are directly used for the Asian Winter Games competition, if they cannot be produced in China or if the performance of their substitutes produced in China can not meet the requirement for competition, they shall be exempt from tariffs, import value-added tax and consumption tax, according to the GAC notice.
Personal articles carried by individuals for daily use, excluding alcoholic beverages and tobacco, shall enjoy Customs duties exemption in accordance with the relevant legal provisions, says the GAC notice.
For those exceeding the permitted duty-free amount, the Customs shall only levy Customs duties on the excess, the notice says.
The Harbin Taiping International Airport, the Beijing Capital International Airport, the Beijing Daxing International Airport and the Shanghai Pudong International Airport are recommended by the Organizing Committee as inbound and outbound ports for personnels for the Games, according to the notice.
Green channels and exclusive windows will be set up at major ports to facilitate customs procedures for entry and exit of personnels and supplies for the Asian Winter Games, it says.
China Customs issues clearance notice for 9th Asian Winter Games
