Two Ningbo Customs officials inspect goods in the Ningbo Free Trade Zone. [Photo/tianmunews]

Ningbo Customs received an impressive 8.81 million declarations for cross-border e-commerce imports valued at a whopping 2.72 billion yuan ($379.23 million) from May 31 to June 18.

The amount represented an uptick of 6.35 percent from the previous year, demonstrating the city's expanding online shopping capacity.

The Ningbo Free Trade Zone accounted for a substantial portion of these imports, with 6.52 million packages shipped, reaching a total value of 2.07 billion yuan. As a result, it remains the front-runner in China's cross-border e-commerce industry.

Hu Danchun, an official at Ningbo Customs, spoke highly of the city's successful performance during the mid-year shopping bonanza. "This year's '6.18' event held substantial market expectations. Nevertheless, Ningbo's sustained development of cross-border e-commerce has shown durable growth," he said.

Thanks to the third China-CEEC Expo spillover effect, goods such as health products and toys imported from CEECs saw an exceptional 49.66 million yuan in sales, an incredible 265.8 percent increase from the previous year.

Another contributing factor is the new cross-border e-commerce import tax payment system. Launched on June 1, it has shortened the tax payment process by 2-3 working days. The system's efficiency has also significantly improved the turnover of guarantee funds.