The customs office of Harbin, Heilongjiang province, has reported that there will be more unified customs clearance in Northeast China, starting May 1, to help trade pick up during the economic slowdown.

This new move calls for six customs offices in Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning provinces and Inner Mogolia autonomous region to be working together on customs clearances so that, all imports and exports from any of the four places will have access to simpler procedures thanks to the integration.

This means lower logistics costs and less transportation time for companies.

The change comes just on the heels of a customs reform last year to simplify the process in three regions – the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area, Yangtze River Economic Belt, and Guangdong province – according to a Xinhua News Agency report.