On February 27, Chengdu Tianfu International Airport Comprehensive Bonded Zone—the first airport-type comprehensive bonded zone in Sichuan Province—officially commenced operations with customs control.

Ceremony site

At approximately 10 a.m., under the supervision of Chengdu Shuangliu Airport Customs, a cargo truck carrying an Airbus A321 aircraft engine passed through the checkpoint and entered the bonded zone, marking the completion of its first transaction. The engine, shipped from Hong Kong, is a high-value-added aviation component destined for installation on Sichuan Airlines' fleet. The entire customs clearance process was fully digitized and took less than one minute. Yang Moyu, Executive General Manager of Sichuan Zhihengda Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd., stated that leveraging the policy advantages of the bonded zone and its integrated port-zone model, the company expects to reduce its overall operating costs by approximately 20%. The firm plans to expand its bonded warehousing and cold-chain logistics services to support efficient international supply chain operations.

The first transaction of the Chengdu Tianfu International Airport Comprehensive Bonded Zone has been officially completed

This bonded zone is the sixth comprehensive bonded zone in Sichuan Province and the third in Chengdu City. Located adjacent to Tianfu International Airport, it covers a planned area of 1.08 square kilometers. Following its official launch, it implements integrated customs supervision with the airport port and offers 'one-stop' customs clearance. The zone will prioritize airframe equipment, pharmaceutical cold-chain logistics, aircraft maintenance, and cross-border e-commerce—industries well-suited to air transport—and will further develop value-added services such as bonded repair, processing, R&D, and financial leasing, promoting deep integration between 'processing and manufacturing + international trade' and 'service trade + bonded operations.'

Taking aircraft maintenance as an example, thanks to '24/7' customs clearance, precision instruments and composite materials can be swiftly delivered directly from the zone to the apron for immediate use. Enterprises holding AEO Advanced Certification can also benefit from facilitations such as 'consolidated reporting with deferred guarantee,' enhancing operational efficiency and improving cash flow.

The first transaction of the Chengdu Tianfu International Airport Comprehensive Bonded Zone has been officially completed

The bonded zone will also focus on transformation and upgrading, exploring 'functional expansion' and 'institutional innovation' to harness institutional dividends for cost reduction and efficiency gains, thereby elevating trade facilitation levels and injecting momentum into the high-level opening-up of the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle. Bai Li, Section Chief of Logistics Monitoring Division II at Chengdu Shuangliu Airport Customs, noted that as the only comprehensive bonded zone in the province equipped with a port operation area, its 'integrated zone-port' model is expected to improve logistics efficiency by 10%–30% and reduce cargo distribution costs by 10%.

The zone operates under a 'Management Committee + Company' model, with the Chengdu Eastern New Area Administrative Committee partnering with Chengdu Industrial Investment Group to establish an operating company—where the government provides the platform and enterprises handle investment, construction, and operational management. Moving forward, targeted policies will be introduced, offering qualified manufacturing and R&D enterprises subsidies of up to RMB 20 million and RMB 8 million, respectively, along with support measures such as warehouse rental subsidies and trade financing interest assistance.

With its official launch, Sichuan Province's portfolio of high-level opening-up platforms has gained a new driver, further optimizing spatial layout and energizing inland openness. According to Chengdu Customs statistics, the total import and export value of all comprehensive bonded zones in the province reached RMB 582.41 billion in 2025, an increase of 1.9% year-on-year.

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