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Last year, Motorola (China) Electronics Co.,Ltd. spent over 2,000 workdays, or 17,480 hours, completing 4,370 customs procedures in China. Now the company can do the same amount of work in 2.5 workdays thanks to "networking".

The "networking revolution" which aims to replace paperwork with a computerised system, has greatly helped improve the efficiency of local customs offices.

For decades, exporters and importers had to record everything that went through customs in so-called "manuals". Last year, Motorola (China) used 932 "manuals".

The system was vital but so cumbersome that sometimes several departments were waiting for the same manual which had to be shuttled between different places with the help of express mail services.

In Tianjin, a major foreign investment hotspot in north China, the city's Customs Office has approved seven companies including Motorola (China) for networking.

The "networking revolution" is under trial in seven cities at present, among them Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen and Xiamen. In Shenzhen, as many as 66 companies are into networking.

Local governments in these cities have shown great interest in the project and some have invested a tidy sum of money.

"If it improves efficiency by 1,000 fold, why not?" said Pin Qiansheng, director of the administrative committee of Tianjin's Seaside New Area.