Pudong pilots innovative offshore intl trade verification platform

Shanghai's Pudong New Area has launched a pilot program to streamline authenticity checks in new offshore international trade, a unique trade model where goods are transported overseas while financial settlements occur domestically.

The separation of order flow, goods flow, and fund flow, commonly known as the "three flows", has long posed a challenge for banks conducting authenticity audits in this domain.

To tackle this issue head-on, the "Cross-Border Financial Service Platform for New Offshore International Trade Background Verification Applications" is being piloted in the district, with 21 domestic and foreign banks participating in the trial.

The new platform is seamlessly connected to the "Offshore Pass", which integrates foreign customs declaration data, shipping company bill of lading data, international port handling data, air cargo data, maritime routes, to establish comprehensive and standardized information on order flow, goods flow, and fund flow.

This data serves as crucial verification support and offers secure, convenient, and efficient technological backing for banks conducting authenticity audits in new offshore international trade.

The pilot program has proved the platform's ability to allow banks to conduct intelligent verification, automatically generating authenticity verification reports through comprehensive comparisons of logistics documents from multiple data sources on the cross-border platform, increasing the amount of trade background information by analyzing vessel trajectories, container details, and the specifics of goods.

The platform also allows banks to utilize signature functions to record the status of document usage, effectively preventing the duplicate transfer and pledging of logistics documents.

With the pilot project, banks can streamline the verification process entirely online.

According to the participating banks, the platform can instantaneously validate key information, shortening the processing time from one to two days to fewer than 30 minutes. It helps businesses quickly complete cross-border settlement.

Statistics show that about 350 enterprises are now conducting new offshore international trade in the bonded area in Pudong.

The total volume of the settlement has increased 61 percent year-on-year, accounting for 60 percent of the city's total.