Customs officials in Kashgar prefecture of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region have been improving efficiency to speed up the high-quality development of the local economy in 2021.

There are currently eight service windows, but more improvements are on the way.

"For the next move, the customs operation will implement a 24/7 timetable to facilitate nonstop operations. We will try to optimize the process to provide a good business environment for enterprises," said Wang Chuanjie, head of Kashgar Customs.

After the free trade zone began cross-border e-commerce processing in late February, customs officers visited local enterprises to give one-on-one coaching about policies to help businesses better embrace foreign markets.

Currently, 97 enterprises have entered the free trade zone in Kashgar, Wang said, noting that the eight service windows provide all kinds of customs services in support.

The past year has witnessed a surge in the total value of the prefecture's imports and exports, Wang said. As of October, more than 8 million cross-border e-commerce parcels were processed. From January to October, the value of the prefecture's imports and exports reached 17.83 billion yuan ($2.8 billion), representing year-on-year growth of 105.9 percent.