On April 9, a 40-metric-ton shipment of electronic components arrived from Vietnam by sea and entered the Qingdao Airport Comprehensive Bonded Zone. After warehousing, sorting, and reloading, the goods departed via TIR truck for Azerbaijan. This marks Qingdao's first "TIR blends bonded transit" operation, adding a new model to the city's bonded service portfolio.

The international transit model treats goods inside the bonded zone as still being overseas, exempting them from import duties and export tariffs. TIR transport, based on the UN TIR Convention, streamlines customs procedures by only requiring goods to be declared once, requiring only one certificate for the entire journey, and directly delivering goods via a single vehicle, greatly reducing transit time and costs.

In early 2026, China's customs authority expanded TIR coverage to include bonded goods. Leveraging this policy, the China-SCO local economic and trade cooperation demonstration zone and Qingdao Jiaodong International Airport Customs jointly launched the new service.

"This model is nearly a week faster than traditional routes and offers lower logistics costs," said Gai Qishan of a local logistics company.

As a key international logistics hub in Northeast Asia, the China-SCO local economic and trade cooperation demonstration zone in Qingdao is accelerating the construction of the Silk Road E-commerce comprehensive service base and intensifying efforts to develop TIR international road transport corridors.

To date, the zone has launched five TIR routes linking China with Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan, forming the beginnings of a regional hub for international road transport.

In the first quarter of this year, the zone dispatched 91 TIR vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 13.7 percent, with a total cargo value of nearly 80 million yuan ($11.6 million) and a total shipment volume exceeding 2,100 metric tons.

Qingdao pioneers "TIR blended bonded transit" to streamline international cargo flows. [Photo/Guanhai News]