China Guomen Times: Pursuing "quality" and ensuring stable supply chain towards "new" - Ningbo Customs uses smart supervision to safeguard the security and stability of strategic mineral resources supply chain

In recent years, the global demand for strategic mineral resources has been on the rise. In order to further enhance the ability of customs to ensure the security of strategic mineral resource supply chains, under the guidance of the Commodity Inspection Department of the General Administration of Customs, Ningbo Customs has reconstructed its regulatory logic with digital technology, and provided strong support for the in-depth implementation of the strategy of building a strong manufacturing country through the triple breakthrough of "institutional innovation, technology driven, and intelligent empowerment".
Institutional innovation accelerates the clearance of recycled metals
Entering the production plant of Ningbo Jintian Copper Industry Co., Ltd., a batch of newly arrived recycled copper raw materials were quickly put into the production line. Nowadays, the fastest time for goods to be unloaded from the ship and put into production is just over 20 hours, which greatly improves efficiency compared to the past, "said Jiang Huile, the head of the import and export department of the company.
This change is due to the new differentiated inspection and supervision model introduced by Ningbo Customs for recycled metal raw materials. Faced with the pressure of import supervision of tens of thousands of TEUs per year, Ningbo Customs implements precise supervision based on risk assessment, and implements differentiated supervision of low-risk imported recycled metals for enterprises with good credit, strong risk control capabilities, and stable raw material quality through "fast customs clearance at ports+precise inspection at destinations". After the goods arrive at the port, they only need to complete intelligent drawing review and radiation detection through machine inspection, and can be quickly lifted out of the port. After the unpacking and inspection process at the port, they can be moved to the destination, greatly reducing the time the goods stay at the port.
This is by no means relaxing supervision, but through intelligent means, on the basis of consolidating the regulatory responsibilities of all parties, achieving more accurate supervision. "The relevant person in charge of the Ningbo Customs Inspection Department introduced that the customs uses Internet of Things technology to achieve full process intelligent monitoring of transportation routes, sealing status, etc., building a complete regulatory loop of" overseas port destination ", ensuring controllable risks and full traceability.
The most direct effect of the new model is a significant improvement in clearance efficiency. According to statistics, since the pilot in September 2025, the average clearance time for recycled copper raw materials using the new mode has been shortened to 46.3 hours, a decrease of 45.5% compared to the past. While improving efficiency, the new model also brings about optimized allocation of regulatory resources, which is expected to alleviate the pressure of nearly 2000 TEUs of port inspections annually.
At present, this innovative model has formed a replicable "Ningbo experience", providing useful reference for the reform of national customs supervision. In addition, Ningbo Customs has independently designed and developed advanced technologies such as large-scale intelligent dismantling equipment and AI image recognition systems. Among them, the intelligent dismantling equipment has shortened the dismantling operation that originally required 2 days to 15 minutes through remote control, and achieved non-destructive operation, effectively solving the problem of inspecting recycled metal blocks.
Technology empowers drones to solve weighing problems skillfully
Recently, a drone took off from the deck of an inbound coal ship docked at the Zhongzhai Ore Terminal in Zhoushan Port, Ningbo, and then hovered over the sea outside the ship, transmitting high-definition images of the bow water gauge to the mobile terminal in the hands of customs officers in real time. After the representative of the ship confirms the bow water gauge data, the drone immediately flies to the measurement points at the midship and stern of the ship. In just over ten minutes, all six water gauges of the ship were observed, and the data was immediately entered into the intelligent weight appraisal system for imported bulk commodities (hereinafter referred to as the "Intelligent Appraisal" system) pioneered by Ningbo Customs. The appraisal results showed that they were consistent with the customs declaration data, and the weight appraisal work before unloading of the ship was successfully completed.  
This is not only an upgrade of tools, but also an innovation of models. Traditional water gauge weighing requires renting a transport boat for visual inspection by customs officers, which is greatly affected by wind and waves, time-consuming, and poses safety risks. Nowadays, Ningbo Customs has innovatively implemented the "drone+intelligent identification" system, which realizes the full process intelligent linkage of observation, input, comparison, and calculation.  
For a long time, the weight appraisal of bulk commodities has involved multiple types of software, multiple sets of standards, scattered data, and cumbersome calculations. The "Smart Appraisal" system has broken down data barriers, integrated the computing functions of multiple existing systems, and achieved real-time data collection, intelligent comparison, and risk warning. After the system was launched, the average time for a single weight appraisal was reduced from 4 hours to 2 hours, and each ship can save enterprises comprehensive costs such as demurrage fees of 30000 to 50000 yuan.  
Imported bulk commodities have a large weight base and high value, and once short weight occurs, it can easily reach hundreds or thousands of tons. If it cannot be detected in a timely manner upon entry, it will cause serious economic losses, "said Zhang Jing, the head of the import department of Ningbo Iron and Steel Co., Ltd.  
Under the guidance of the Commodity Inspection Department of the General Administration of Customs, the "Smart Appraisal" system has been further expanded and upgraded to the General Administration version of the "Smart Inspection Appraisal Management" module, and will officially start trial operation at Ningbo Customs in September 2025.  
The application of the "Smart Appraisal" system has increased the overall appraisal calculation efficiency on site by more than 30%, resulting in fast and accurate results. In 2025, Ningbo Customs detected a total of 102 cases of shortage in the quantity and weight of bulk commodities, with a shortage weight of 65000 tons, and promptly issued weight certificates as a basis for claims, helping enterprises recover economic losses.  
Scene Fusion Exploration of "Unconscious Supervision" of Iron Ore
At the Beilun Port Area of Zhoushan Port in Ningbo, the 300000 ton cargo ship "Ore Giant" slowly docked, and the crane and conveyor belt immediately began to operate for unloading. This is not only an important distribution center for imported iron ore in China, but also a "testing ground" for the new intelligent supervision model of imported iron ore by Ningbo Customs.  
In the past, most imported iron ore needed to take a 'turn' in the port area - first unloading and storing on ships, and then loading onto ships for secondary shipping through waterways, "said Zhang Xiaolong, Deputy General Manager of Beilun Ore Terminal Branch of Ningbo Zhoushan Port Co., Ltd." Nowadays, customs intelligent supervision and port operations are deeply linked, and ships can dock and unload immediately, significantly improving overall operational efficiency
The core of this transformation is the "Smart Inspection Iron Ore Supervision" business scenario explored and constructed by Ningbo Customs. This scenario relies on intelligent detection equipment, intelligent model algorithms, and integrated application platforms to embed five major regulatory functions into the entire process of dock operations, including sampling and preparation, radioactive detection, solid waste screening and inclusion screening, and logistics monitoring, ensuring immediate unloading and loading, rapid inspection and release.  
In front of the surveillance screen located more than ten kilometers away from the dock, a customs officer from the Ship Management Department of Beilun Customs Port Office under Ningbo Customs lightly touched the screen to retrieve real-time monitoring information such as high-definition appearance pictures, detailed composition, and radioactive readings of a batch of iron ore being unloaded. Through panoramic monitoring and intelligent recognition technology, we can automatically and accurately inspect the entire process of unloading iron ore, and complete intelligent inspection in the monitoring room. While ensuring strict supervision, we minimize interference with enterprise operations, "said the person in charge of Ship Management Department One.  
In addition, Ningbo Customs has further optimized its supervision process, strictly implemented facilitation measures such as "release before inspection" and 24-hour operation, and implemented a "one-time declaration, one-time inspection, and one-time release" mode for directly unloaded goods, reducing the overall clearance time by 90%.  
The comprehensive effect of smart regulation is continuously being released. The active exploration of a new intelligent supervision model for imported iron ore by Ningbo Customs has strengthened the interconnection among customs, ports, and enterprises. The accuracy of risk identification for iron ore safety access, the tightness of inspection and supervision, and the convenience of logistics transfer have all been greatly improved. It is expected that the annual production capacity of imported mineral products in Beilun Port area of Ningbo Zhoushan Port will increase by 6 million tons, and downstream cargo owners will receive each batch 15 hours earlier on average.  
From innovative regulation of recycled metals to unmanned aerial vehicle "intelligent weighing", and then to "contactless regulation" of iron ore, Ningbo Customs promotes the transformation of regulatory models through innovation, safeguards national security with wisdom, and contributes customs strength to promoting customs clearance convenience and ensuring supply chain security and stability.