Recently, with approval from the General Administration of Customs, Lanzhou has been officially included in the list of pilot cities for the 2026 National Cross-Border Trade Facilitation Special Action Campaign. This marks another national-level open platform for Lanzhou, following its designations as a nodal city for the China-Europe Railway Express and a Comprehensive Pilot Zone for Cross-Border E-Commerce. The move signifies a critical step forward in Lanzhou's efforts to establish itself as a key hub for opening up to the west and to build a new inland high-level open economic zone.

To continuously promote high-quality development in foreign trade, the General Administration of Customs, in collaboration with 24 departments including the Cyberspace Administration of China, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Commerce, has jointly launched the 2026 Cross-Border Trade Facilitation Special Action Campaign. The number of pilot cities has expanded from 25 in 2025 to 45, and Lanzhou, as a key nodal city in Northwest China, has been successfully selected. This will grant Lanzhou national-level policy support and pilot implementation privileges, enabling innovations and breakthroughs in five key areas: customs clearance supervision, new forms of foreign trade, logistics efficiency, digital and intelligent ports, and comprehensive enterprise services.

This designation holds significant importance for Lanzhou in three key aspects: First, it will optimize the business environment by replicating and promoting advanced national practices to reduce customs clearance time, streamline declaration procedures, and lower institutional transaction costs for enterprises. Second, it will empower the export-oriented economy by providing stronger policy support for new business models such as cross-border e-commerce, bonded leasing, and exports of distinctive local products, thereby facilitating the expansion of "Ganwei" (Gansu-characteristic) agricultural products into international markets. Third, it will enhance Lanzhou's hub function by leveraging international corridors like the China-Europe Railway Express and China-Central Asia routes to further open up multi-directional foreign trade channels and strengthen the cross-border trade radiation capacity of the Northwest region.

In the next phase, the Lanzhou Municipal Bureau of Commerce will collaborate with relevant departments such as customs, taxation, market regulation, and public security to jointly implement 29 national trade facilitation measures. Key priorities include deepening innovations in customs supervision, promoting advanced practices to optimize clearance procedures, enhancing cross-border logistics efficiency, and supporting the development of a China-Europe Railway Express consolidation center. Efforts will also focus on improving services for new foreign trade formats, advancing the "six systems and two platforms" framework for cross-border e-commerce, and supporting enterprises in jointly establishing and sharing overseas warehouses. Additionally, the city will strengthen the development of digital and intelligent ports, promote data interconnectivity among customs, taxation, and logistics systems, upgrade the functionality of the Single Window for International Trade, and create digitalized clearance scenarios to achieve fully online and paperless cross-border trade processes. Furthermore, regular enterprise visits and surveys will be conducted to precisely address the needs of foreign trade companies, providing one-stop services such as policy interpretation, business training, and customs clearance guidance to help businesses stabilize orders, expand markets, and increase profitability.