ByMaoYudong,ZhangTian
Kunshan Daily
  eneral Administration of Customs (GAC) officially gave out the approval of the evaluation results of Kunshan Comprehensive Bonded Zone (KCBZ) (Stage II) on Dec. 3. The GAC also requested Nanjing Customs to implement closed supervision over KCBZ （Stage II) and launch customs operation in the bonded zone.
　 With three "exclaves" added to it, the KCBZ (Stage II) will be made up of three areas, all closely bordered by neighboring districts and towns outside. The three areas include the main area, south area and west area. The 3.34-square-kilometer main area covers the original export processing zone and newly added 0.48 square kilometer; it extends east to Meigui Road, south to Shanghai-Nanjing Express Railway and National Highway 312, west to Changjiang Road, and north to Shanghai-Nanjing Expressway. The south area, planned to cover 2.1 square kilometers, will extend east to Huangpujiang Road, South to Wusong River, West to Yujinxiang Road, and north to Bailing Road. The west area, planned to cover 0.42 square kilometer, will extend east to Jiangpu Road, south to Yuanfeng Road, west to Keji Road and north to Chuangxin Road.
　 The continuous and fully closed isolation fence between the customs-supervised zone and non-customs-supervised zone measures 13.8 kilometers in length. Electronic shutter release system, container number identification system, car plate automatic identification system, video monitor system and electronic loadometer have been installed at all areas. The bonded zone and the customs facilities will be integrated into clearance center, inspection center and monitor center, and the 0.02-million-square-meter inspection center will be expanded into 0.13 million square meters.
　 The establishment of KCBZ was approved by the State Council on Dec. 20, 2009. Planned to cover 5.86 square kilometers, the bonded zone is originated from Kunshan Export Processing Zone, the country's first export processing zone with closed customs operation. On June 30, 2010, the bonded zone's 2.86-square-kilometer first stage passed evaluation and kicked off operation.
　 Up to this past September, the first stage had had 174 projects registered, with the overall investment totalling $2.2 billion US dollars, the registered capital $1.1 billion US dollars, the actual utilized foreign capital $1 billion US dollars, and its imports and exports taking up over 60% of the city's total foreign trade volume.
　  According to KCBZ official, the official launch of the second stage signifies that there will be more room for transformation and upgrading for the bonded zone. Within the next three to five years, the KCBZ is going to bring its industrial output value over RMB500 billion yuan, import and export volume over $70 billion US dollars, domestic sale volume over RMB100 billion yuan, bonded logistics volume over RMB500 billion yuan, and service industry added value over RMB10 billion yuan.
　 Meanwhile, the KCBZ aims to become a model for Kunshan's transformation and upgrading, a leader for emerging industries and a pilot zone for low-carbon economy.  According to Kunshan Customs official,  as the special supervision zone grows in area, the customs will further restructure its procedure and streamline customs clearance formalities to facilitate Kunshan's modernization drive.