On April 24, after completing customs clearance under the "inspect before loading" model, a container truck carrying more than 1,000 pieces of consolidated less-than-container-load cargo left the consolidation warehouse at Yiwu Railway Port. As of that day, Yiwu Customs under Hangzhou Customs had supervised export goods worth 1.33 billion yuan under the "inspect before loading" model this year, surpassing the total export value under this supervision model for the whole year of 2025.

General Secretary Xi Jinping recently delivered an important instruction, noting that Yiwu’s small commodities have opened up a huge global market and grown into a major industry, forming the "Yiwu Development Experience", a successful practice of developing county economies suited to local conditions. He required that the "Yiwu Development Experience" be further summarized and applied in tandem with the campaign to foster and practice a correct view of performance in governance.

The "inspect before loading" model serves as a vivid example of Yiwu’s reform and innovation. Known as the World Capital of Small Commodities, Yiwu pioneered the new trade format of market procurement trade and maintains trade links with over 230 countries and regions across the globe. This trade format matches the export characteristics of Yiwu small commodities featuring small batches, diverse varieties and frequent shipments, yet consolidated LCL shipments account for more than 50 percent of all export containers. Under the traditional model, if customs randomly selects a consignment for inspection, all goods inside a 40-foot container must be unloaded for item-by-item checking and then repacked.

To address the headache of "entire containers held up due to inspection of a single consignment" caused by unpacking and repacking, Yiwu Customs launched the innovative "inspect before loading" supervision model, shifting inspection work to the pre-stuffing stage and adjusting the workflow from "physical consolidation followed by inspection and release" to "inspection and release followed by physical consolidation". After goods enter the supervised premises, they can be inspected in separate batches before container loading and shipment. The parallel operation of inspection and container stuffing effectively solves three prominent problems: cumbersome unpacking and repacking, difficulty locating goods during inspections, and obstacles to cargo restocking. Following this reform, export efficiency has increased by 30 percent.

The country’s first pilot program of the "inspect before loading" model was launched in Yiwu in 2023. In 2024, Yiwu rolled out a new round of comprehensive international trade reforms, listing the "inspect before loading" model for export consolidated cargo as a key priority. In 2025, the supervision model was expanded to cross-border e-commerce exports in Yiwu. In the same year, the General Administration of Customs included this model in the national list of replicable and promotable reform pilot experiences for free trade zones.

"Earlier this year, we launched the integrated 'consolidation warehouse + sea-rail intermodal transport' model, which has driven rapid growth in the volume of business under the 'inspect before loading' scheme," an official from the Logistics Supervision Section of Yiwu Customs said. "Under the new model, inspection and release information for export goods is transmitted to Ningbo Zhoushan Port in real time, allowing enterprises to complete pre-release procedures in advance. Cargo can be directly transferred from trains to ocean vessels upon arrival, cutting transit time by two to three days compared with ordinary sea exports. Estimates show cross-border e-commerce export efficiency rises by about 30 percent while logistics costs drop by roughly 15 percent."

"Customs, terminal operators and enterprises now cooperate more closely and smoothly, and the combined regulatory measures of 'market procurement trade plus cross-border e-commerce' implemented by Customs deliver increasingly sound results," said Dai Binbin, person in charge of the consolidation warehouse at Zhejiang Yinghe International Logistics Co., Ltd.

A person in charge of Yiwu Customs stated that the customs will thoroughly understand the profound connotation of the "Yiwu Development Experience", take "delivering well-being to the people" as the paramount standard of governance performance, and adhere to a pragmatic and truth-seeking orientation. It will continuously improve supervision over market procurement trade, expand the coverage of the "inspect before loading" pilot program, bring greater convenience to enterprises, and help Yiwu write new chapters centered on "small commodities with a huge global market".