MORE e-commerce exporters are causing a rise in demand for bonded warehouses in Shenzhen, the Nanfang Daily reported Thursday.

    Bonded warehouses are warehouses where goods are stored under the watch of the customs before paying import taxes. Exporters don’t have to pay tax when the cargo is in the bonded warehouse, reducing logistics costs.

    Shenzhen’s overall cross-border e-commerce turnover was 105.6 billion yuan (US$17.03 billion) in 2014, 27 percent higher than a year earlier and accounting for 7 percent of all online sales in the city.

    With daily shipments of nearly 1 million items, nearly half of the country’s cross-border e-commerce goods were exported through Shenzhen, according to the city’s postal administration.

    In the second quarter of 2015, the vacancy rate of bonded warehouses in Shenzhen fell to 8.8 percent, while the average monthly rent went up to 39.6 yuan per square meter, the highest in two years, according to a report from Jones Lang LaSalle.

    The monthly rent of non-bonded warehouses also climbed to 37.4 yuan per square meter, the report noted, adding that both bonded and non-bonded warehouse rents were expected to grow 9 to 11 percent by the end of the year.

    “The annual export peak season lasts from May to October, when e-commerce firms are preparing for Christmas sales overseas and therefore driving the demand for bonded warehouses,” said Gu Zhengpeng, the deputy director of the industrial and property department of Jones Lang LaSalle.

    Gu said the occupancy rate of bonded warehouses in Yantian District had increased as the export peak approached, and the rapid growth of cross-border e-commerce trading in the Shekou free trade area also boosted the demand for bonded warehouses in Qianhai. A bonded warehouse, covering an area of 122,000 square meters in the Qianhai Bay area, will be constructed in 2015 in the city, according to the report. Gu said the vacancy rate of the bonded warehouses in the city was expected to stand at 9 to 11 percent this year.

    A lowering of import and export tariffs has pushed some warehouse owners to apply to switch to non-bonded status.

    The Central Government lowered export and import tariffs by over 50 percent for consumer goods such as clothing, shoes and skin care products June 1.

    The State Council issued guidelines June 20 to promote cross-border e-commerce, optimizing customs supervision, standardizing tariffs and providing financial support.

    “Some owners are applying for converting their bonded warehouses into non-bonded ones this quarter,” Gu said, adding that more business came from non-bonded transactions, but over 80 percent of warehouses in Shenzhen were bonded.

    The booming cross-border e-commerce may overshadow the traditional retail industry. Analysts said retailers should better engage consumers to stay competitive. (Zhang Yang)