China has created a computer network to shorten the traditional process for import and export quarantine by two to three days on average, an official said Wednesday.

The State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine has spent more than 600 million yuan (US$72.55 million) in building the computer network linking its headquarters and 440 branches nationwide, said the administration official.

Some 40,000 import and export trade companies are also connected to the network so that the application for quarantining their goods can be processed online.

About 80 percent of quarantine applications now are handled through the computer network, and all the applications in a dozen provinces and municipalities, including Beijing and Guangdong, are handled via the network.

(Xinhua News Agency August 14, 2003)