Qingdao Airport further upgraded its air cargo transit capabilities at the start of the new year to inject new momentum into the city’s drive to become an international shipping hub. A 409-kilogram shipment of 9610 cross-border e-commerce goods recently departed Shenzhen and arrived in Qingdao via a domestic Shenzhen–Qingdao flight before it was transferred onto an international service bound for East Asia. The successful handling of this shipment marks the official launch—and the start of regular operations—of the Shenzhen–Qingdao–East Asia 9610 cross-border e-commerce cargo transit corridor jointly developed by Qingdao Airport and Shenzhen Airport.

China’s trade and economic cooperation with Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partner countries has grown increasingly close in recent years where emerging cross-border e-commerce models have driven rapid expansion in small-commodity exports. Demand for the transshipment of import and export cargo has continued to rise accordingly with transit efficiency and logistics costs becoming key considerations for cross-border e-commerce companies seeking to strengthen their core competitiveness. The customs supervision code "9610" represents the cross-border trade e-commerce model which is designed to address export bottlenecks in B2C cross-border e-commerce, commonly referred to in the industry as the consolidated shipment model. Its core feature is a simplified, compliant process of ship-first, declare-later for direct-mail parcels, typically with a single-shipment value of no more than 5,000 yuan. Applicable to transactions conducted by domestic individuals or e-commerce enterprises through online platforms, the model is tailored to handle the small-parcel, multi-item, high-frequency B2C orders typical of cross-border e-commerce to offer a flexible and efficient way to meet overseas consumer demand.

Shenzhen is a core hub of China’s cross-border e-commerce industry with sustained high demand for cargo capacity on routes to East Asia and Qingdao Airport, for its part, enjoys a strategic position as an international gateway to East Asia with high-density, regular passenger and cargo services to the region and an average daily flight volume ranking among the highest nationwide. Building on the industrial strengths and geographic advantages of both cities, Qingdao Airport and Shenzhen Airport—supported by Qingdao Airport Customs and Shenzhen Post Customs—have jointly launched an innovative 9610 cross-border e-commerce cargo transit service to successfully establish a new Shenzhen–Qingdao–East Asia air logistics corridor.

This innovative collaboration between Qingdao Airport and Shenzhen Airport not only provides cross-border e-commerce companies with a faster logistics link between South China and East Asian markets but also lays a solid foundation for deeper cooperation between major hub airports.