Published on: 2026-05-28
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Beijing, May 28 /Xin Hua/ — In the context of globalization, the growth of cross-border flows of people, cargo, and goods increases the risks of invasive species penetration, which in turn creates new challenges for border control. Biosecurity has become an important part of the national security system.
Starting from 2026, Chinese customs authorities will conduct a special three-year campaign to prevent the infiltration of invasive species. On May 1 of this year, China introduced for the first time an official list of dangerous invasive/alien species subject to strict control at border checkpoints. It was developed by the General Customs Administration (GTA) of the PRC jointly with five other agencies.
Relying on artificial intelligence /AI/ and big data, China aims to create an integrated intellectual monitoring system “space-air-earth,” which provides accurate and effective protection of border territories from biological threats.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND QUANTUM
The usual sanitary-quarantine control, based on visual inspection and staff experience, no longer corresponds to the modern pace of transboundary trade development. The implementation of AI has completely changed the work of border services, providing instant recognition of dangerous organisms, accurate tracking of threat sources, and timely warning about them.
As reported at a recent departmental press conference by the Deputy Director of the Department of Animal and Plant Quarantine of the GAC KNLU in Xuzhou, an intelligent identification model for exogenous pests has now been implemented at the customs point, capable of recognizing more than a thousand species of insects and weed plants with an accuracy of over 90 percent. Thanks to the integration of interdepartmental databases, an instant check of 12 categories of agricultural products has been established, and more than 120 thousand electronic applications have been processed.Automated sampling systems and intelligent detectors of exotic species allow maintaining a high level of security without slowing down foreign trade operations.
Intellectual solutions are being implemented in almost all major logistics hubs of the country. In the East China province of Zhejiang, customs officers use intellectual glasses with AI functionality, which instantly recognize product characteristics and translate foreign labels, reducing cargo processing time by 30 percent. In the port of Tianjin / Northern China, specialized digital complexes allow carrying out comprehensive checks of mineral raw materials within minutes, significantly reducing laboratory processing times.
The customs service of the city of Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu Province /Eastern China/ actively uses AI to control wood products. Its intelligent systems recognize 145 wood species, more than 150 types of weed seeds, and 80 types of insects, effectively identifying hidden biological threats. Located in Nanjing, the Qixinlin Customs, with the help of AI, successfully detects live exogenous parasites, including large exotic beetles, in international postal shipments and intercepts cases of false declaration.
The large-scale implementation of intelligent technologies has significantly increased the effectiveness of quarantine control. According to official data, by the end of the first quarter of 2026, Chinese customs authorities identified over 12 thousand cases of quarantine pest detection, which is 15.6% more than in the same period last year. During the reporting period, 1,163 batches of invasive species were confiscated, and 394 batches of import agricultural products not meeting requirements were returned or destroyed. The activities of 169 foreign enterprises that violated quarantine regulations were also suspended.
INTELLECTUAL MONITORING OF THE BRANCH
The complex terrain of the border areas and the considerable length of China’s state border create serious difficulties for the traditional patrol model due to limited human resources, which does not allow for complete exclusion of uncontrolled zones. An integrated monitoring system based on AI, satellite imagery, infrared cameras, and unmanned aerial vehicles has provided continuous coverage of all border zones.
In the Tsybagou nature reserve, located in the border district of Chayou / Sicang Autonomous Region, Southwest China, an intellectual platform covers a key territory of 52 thousand hectares. The AI automatically processes infrared camera images, recognizes takins, snow leopards, and other rare animals, and timely detects traces of invasive species. Thanks to this, the patrol efficiency here has increased by 30 percent.
Since November 2025, in the city of Khulun-Buir, the AI models of Inner Mongolia provide real-time recognition of cross-border means of livestock transportation. An automatic, closed-loop cycle of “detection-warning-transfer-elimination of threats” operates, which prevents the cross-border spread of zoonotic infections.
Expanding internal monitoring capabilities, China is actively deepening practical cooperation with neighboring countries in the field of preventing the import of invasive alien species. Based on AI and large data, the parties are creating a cross-border intellectual monitoring system, exchanging databases on biological species and potential threats at the border, conducting joint field monitoring, risk analysis, and promptly eliminating hazards.
WARRANTY OUTSIDE THE TERRITORY
Strengthening border biological control is not aimed at creating obstacles to the development of foreign trade, but on the contrary, it contributes to the formation of a safe and stable environment for doing business.
As Van Sen, responsible for foreign trade operations at the Manzhouli Altay International Grain and Oil Industrial Co., Ltd., located in Manzhouli, Inner Mongolia, told us, the company mainly deals with the import of grain and oilseeds, as well as feed from Russia. The thorough phytosanitary control conducted by the Manzhouli customs upon the arrival of goods helps them to build an integrated system of sanitary safety and compliance with standards at all stages – from purchase and transportation to product storage.”In the long-term perspective, this allows reducing the risks of rule violations and ensuring the stability of customs procedure expectations,” he noted.
The general director of a logistics provider company specializing in supply chain logistics in the city of Ningbo, Zhejiang province, Qiu Zi recalled that last year, during the inspection of a batch of imported mangosteens, customs officers discovered a dangerous quarantine pest from the family of mealybugs – the Comstock mealybug. Timely detection of the pest allowed preventing ecological and economic risks, protecting the stable development of the enterprise. At the same time, thanks to the implementation of various intellectual technologies, the efficiency of customs clearance has significantly increased.”From the moment of submitting the preliminary declaration until the inspection on the site – about two hours are enough. Even when receiving several dozen containers a day, we are completely confident in the stability and quality of customs control,” added Xu Zi.
Intellectual modernization of border control has allowed for the harmonious combination of strict biological security and the efficiency of foreign trade. Digital technologies reliably block transboundary biological threats, protect the country’s ecosystems, and create stable conditions for international commercial cooperation. Further improvement of intellectual border oversight systems will contribute to the sustainable development of foreign economic relations and the enhancement of China’s national biological security level.
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