Companies can use bonded cargo in the Yangshan Free Trade Port Area as a pledge to get bank loans under a trial, a senior official said yesterday.

Copper and aluminium are the first batch of goods allowed to be used as a pledge for financing, said Jian Danian, vice director of the Shanghai Free Trade Zones Administration, adding that more products will be included in the future.

The Bank of China signed agreements with three firms yesterday to provide financing totaling US$1.45 million for the pledged bonded goods. Four other banks, including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and China Construction Bank, have also been allowed to launch the service.

Yangshan is the first port in the Chinese mainland to get the preferential policy. Formerly, duty-free goods could not be pledged for loans.

Pledging bonded goods to get loans will help bulk commodity firms as Yangshan port aims to build a bulk commodity trading center.

The imports and exports of Shanghai Free Trade Zones, comprising the Yangshan, Waigaoqiao and Pudong International Airport free trade areas, rose 11 percent on an annual basis in the first quarter of 2012 to US$26 billion.