From opening flagship stores to launching new products, followed by debut exhibitions, premier shows, and first performances... the first-movement economy, with "innovation" as its traffic-driving code, has become a key engine for Shanghai to stimulate urban consumption vitality and build itself into an international consumption hub. Leveraging its position as the nation's largest port for imported consumer goods and the core hub for the first-movement economy, Shanghai Customs has intensified the supply of facilitative policies, optimized regulatory services, and strongly supported the high-quality development of the first-movement economy. This year alone, Shanghai Customs has facilitated the smooth importation of 28,200 batches of debut products, with a total value of 590 million yuan, surpassing the full-year figures for 2025 in both volume and monetary terms.

The first national-level import trade promotion innovation demonstration zone in Shanghai's central urban area, the Huaihai Xintiandi Import Trade Promotion Innovation Demonstration Zone, has gathered numerous international brand debut, premiere, first exhibition, and flagship store events, showcasing strong consumption vitality. In the first half of this year, the zone's total import value reached 24.95 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 95.2%, with consumer goods imports growing by 40.6% and accounting for approximately 30% of the total.

At an Italian fashion brand store in the K11 Shopping Art Center within the demonstration zone, Fu Zheyue, supply chain manager of Linma (Shanghai) Trading Co., Ltd., a Chinese partner of the brand, admitted during a customs inspection: "High-end fashion imports are highly seasonal, and clearance efficiency directly determines market performance. If Milan Fashion Week collections cannot clear customs and go on sale promptly, they risk missing the optimal selling period in China."

The charm of imported debut products lies in their "novelty," which also imposes new demands on customs clearance efficiency. To address this, Shanghai Customs launched a pilot program for expedited inspection measures for debut consumer goods in May 2025, pioneering a national "white list + differentiated conformity assessment" inspection model. By leveraging the "enterprise + product" white list, this initiative accelerates and streamlines the customs clearance process for all categories of imported debut consumer goods, including apparel, toys, and home appliances.

"We innovatively adopted the inspection model of 'enterprise whitelist + differentiated conformity assessment,' using a 'small entry point' to drive the 'broad scenario' of the first-time launch economy. For exhibits not entering circulation and small batches of new products with fewer than 20 pieces per batch, we implemented rapid clearance to achieve 'loss-free, wait-free' customs procedures. For bulk new products exceeding 20 pieces, rapid clearance is granted based on laboratory test reports, enabling loss-free inspection and efficient clearance for first-time launched new products," said Zhou Hong, Deputy Director of the Shanghai Customs Product Inspection Department.

Upon learning of Linma (Shanghai) Trading Co., Ltd.'s request, Huangpu Customs under the Shanghai Customs Administration guided the company in submitting materials such as product information and quality safety compliance plans, assisting it in applying for participation in the pilot program. Building on the pilot framework, Huangpu Customs explored the unified assumption of local inspection and quarantine functions. If a product was flagged for inspection, the first batch of imported clothing under the "whitelist" could directly reach the destination port. Huangpu Customs conducted local inspection and quarantine based on the submitted test reports, implementing qualified assurance and compliance assessments, significantly reducing the clearance time. For Linma Trading's first batch of high-end autumn-winter fashion series included in the whitelist, the inspection-flagged styles achieved nearly half a month faster clearance compared to traditional procedures, enabling new designs to reach high-end nationwide stores more swiftly.

"This facilitation measure is particularly well-suited for the garment import industry. Through this model, imports have become a routine operation for us, with over 50 batches of goods cleared quickly. The Italian headquarters has also entrusted the Shanghai team with handling more limited-edition and Asia-Pacific debut items." Fu Zheyue stated.

The benefits extend beyond this single company. Since the pilot program for streamlined inspection measures for first-time consumer goods began over a year ago, the number of enterprises on the whitelist has expanded from 14 to 36, with brands increasing from 20 to 58. Over 37,800 batches of first-time products have entered the "fast track" for their China debut, achieving an over 80% reduction in clearance time.

Next, Shanghai Customs will continue to respond to corporate needs, explore the digitalization of the entire whitelist certification process, optimize the whitelist certification mechanism, further reduce corporate waiting periods, accelerate the launch of new products, and continuously contribute customs support to the construction of Shanghai as an international consumption hub.