The State Council recently released a formal document, approving the opening up of Dongjiakou Port in the West Coast New Area of Qingdao, East China's Shandong province, Qingdao Daily Reports.

The new policy will help to open up Qingdao to the outside world, further boosting the economic development of Qingdao and the surrounding area.

"Thanks to opening-up, we don't need to spend much time on the handling of various procedures" said Zhang Zuoqiang, an employee from Qingdao Branch of China Shipping Agency Co. Ltd.

Before the new policy, Zhang and his colleagues needed to go to the Huangdao area of the city three days in advance of any ship docking at the port, simply to deal with the relevant procedures.

In future, the customs and inspection authorities will set up offices at the Dongjiakou Port and handle the applications on site.

Another benefit from the opening-up is ships are now able to dock at night. Zhang said that ships can now berth at the port the night they arrive, without waiting for another day.

"This will definitely save a large amount of money" Zhang said.

In addition, businesses based in the Dongjiakou area will benefit from this policy. The convenient and fast customs procedures will make international trade much easier for these companies, hopefully leading to an increase in business confidence.

"The powerful logistical advantages here can significantly lower the operating cost for enterprises" said Miao Chunbao, the vice general manager from Qingdao Haijing Chemical Group. He also said this is the one of the reasons they chose to locate the company in Dongjiakou Economic Zone.

At present, Dongjiakou Port has 26 berths, achieving a handling capacity of over 100 million tons in 2015.

"According to the overall planning, by 2020, the port is expected to rank in the world's top three in handling capacity" the local authority said.