Shenzhen will trial "smart and safe" trade lanes to be jointly introduced by China and the European Union in a bid to enhance trade while countering the threats of piracy and terrorism.

Mu Xinsheng, minister of China's General Administration of Customs, signed an agreement on the pilot scheme with EU Taxation and Customs Commissioner Laszlo Kovacs in Brussels on Tuesday.

The scheme will start with a pilot project focusing on the transportation of sea containers between Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Felixstowe in Britain, and Shenzhen. Shenzhen Port is the world's fourth-largest port in terms of container throughput.

A "smart" examination and monitoring system using high-tech electronic devices will be developed to minimize the risks of counterfeit goods and make the process of going through customs quicker and cheaper, they said.

Mu hailed the agreement and stressed that the Chinese authorities were working hard to battle infringement of intellectual property rights (IPR).

"In these days we face global challenges like global competition, international terrorism, the infringement of international property rights (IPR) and counterfeiting. This pilot project is of great importance," Kovacs told reporters.

"It is a pilot project of limited scope but we hope that one day it will extend to all the countries of the EU and China," he said.

It could also be extended later to apply to other Asian trading partners, he added.

The scheme's twin aims are to increase security and trade facilitation, with security measures centered on tackling IPR infringement, smuggling and the threats posed by terrorism, he said.

Kovacs dismissed the suggestion that more customs measures would necessarily work against the goal of easier trade.

E-customs, or electronic customs, he said could make the process "more effective, quicker and cheaper."

EU-China trade has boomed in recent years, reaching an estimated 200 billion euros (US$256 billion) last year.

The EU has become China's biggest trading partner while China is now the EU's second-largest trading partner after the United States, according to the European Commission.

The pilot project will test security from the point of the stuffing throughout the entire journey of the container until its final destination, the European Commission said.

Editor: Yan