On 1 November 2024, the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China (“GACC”) published a draft Announcement on Further Promoting the Development of Cross-border E-commerce Exports (“Draft Announcement”) to solicit opinions from the public on whether the Draft Announcement has any impact on fair competition until 15 November 2024. China’s cross-border e-commerce exports, a commercial activity that sells products produced by domestic enterprises to foreign countries through cross-border e-commerce platforms, has grown significantly recently. According to the latest data from the GACC, China’s cross-border e-commerce imports and exports in the first three quarters of 2024 were RMB 1.88 trillion (Equivalent to US$ 0.26 trillion). The Draft Announcement proposes four customs supervision measures to promote cross-border e-commerce exports. After the announcement of it, China’s A-share cross-border e-commerce-related concept stocks rose significantly.
The first measure is to cancel the recordal requirement to the domestic enterprises that deliver exported goods to an overseas warehouse through cross-border logistics and then provide the goods from the overseas warehouse to the buyer after it concludes a transaction with the overseas buyer in a cross-border e-commerce platform (“Enterprises engaged in export to overseas warehouses in cross-border e-commerce”). The requirement is stipulated in Article 4 of the GACC’s Announcement No. 75 [2020] on Launching the Pilot Program of Supervision over Business-to-Business Export in Cross-border E-commerce. According to this measure, the Enterprises engaged in export to overseas warehouses in cross-border e-commerce will be exempted from recording their overseas warehouse business models. They only need to complete the recordal of customs declaration enterprises and cross-border e-commerce enterprises before they can directly conduct such business. This measure partially simplifies their recordal procedures because they still need to transmit the electronic data of overseas warehouse orders to the customs during the declaration process and be responsible for the authenticity of the data.
The second measure is to simplify the export document declaration procedures for cross-border e-commerce. According to the measure, before declaring the cross-border e-commerce B2C and B2B export lists, enterprises or their agents and logistics companies no longer need to submit electronic information of receipts to the customs, but they should transmit electronic information such as orders and logistics to the customs through the international trade “single window” or the cross-border e-commerce customs clearance service platform, and the authenticity of the data should be guaranteed. This measure does reduce the declaration burden of the enterprises.
The third measure is to expand the pilot project of “inspection before shipment” for export LCL goods. According to the measure, 12 directly affiliated customs, including Shanghai, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Xiamen, Qingdao, Zhengzhou, Wuhan, Changsha, Guangzhou, Huangpu, Chengdu, and Xi'an, will carry out a pilot project of the “inspection before shipment” supervision mode for export LCL goods. The pilot project allows cross-border e-commerce export goods in the pilot area to enter the supervision operation site in the form of bulk goods, first undergo customs inspection, and then flexibly consolidate and ship according to actual needs. The supervision workplace can accurately grasp the actual situation of the goods and transmit the corresponding data in real-time through the Internet with the customs by establishing a real-time information collection system for each link such as goods entry, shelving, packing, and logistics transportation from the supervision workplace to the port. This measure improves the customs clearance efficiency of goods through flexible LCL shipment.
The fourth measure is to promote the supervision model of cross-custom returns for cross-border e-commerce retail exports. According to the measure, 20 directly affiliated customs, including Beijing, Tianjin, Dalian, Harbin, Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Hefei, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Nanchang, Qingdao, Zhengzhou, Changsha, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Huangpu, Chengdu, and Urumqi, will carry out a pilot supervision model for cross-border e-commerce retail export returns across customs areas. This pilot model allows returned goods from cross-border e-commerce retail exports to be returned across customs areas to the customs-supervised work sites (venues) where cross-border e-commerce retail export business is carried out. This measure can simplify the return process, reduce return logistics costs, and mitigate the risk of cargo loss.
Against the backdrop of global inflation, China’s high-quality domestic brands with good quality and low prices are favored by more and more consumers. This provides opportunities for the development of China’s cross-border e-commerce industry. The four measures in the Draft Announcement to optimize the cross-border e-commerce export supervision model can improve the customs clearance environment for cross-border e-commerce and promote the development of its export business.
The first measure is to cancel the recordal requirement to the domestic enterprises that deliver exported goods to an overseas warehouse through cross-border logistics and then provide the goods from the overseas warehouse to the buyer after it concludes a transaction with the overseas buyer in a cross-border e-commerce platform (“Enterprises engaged in export to overseas warehouses in cross-border e-commerce”). The requirement is stipulated in Article 4 of the GACC’s Announcement No. 75 [2020] on Launching the Pilot Program of Supervision over Business-to-Business Export in Cross-border E-commerce. According to this measure, the Enterprises engaged in export to overseas warehouses in cross-border e-commerce will be exempted from recording their overseas warehouse business models. They only need to complete the recordal of customs declaration enterprises and cross-border e-commerce enterprises before they can directly conduct such business. This measure partially simplifies their recordal procedures because they still need to transmit the electronic data of overseas warehouse orders to the customs during the declaration process and be responsible for the authenticity of the data.
The second measure is to simplify the export document declaration procedures for cross-border e-commerce. According to the measure, before declaring the cross-border e-commerce B2C and B2B export lists, enterprises or their agents and logistics companies no longer need to submit electronic information of receipts to the customs, but they should transmit electronic information such as orders and logistics to the customs through the international trade “single window” or the cross-border e-commerce customs clearance service platform, and the authenticity of the data should be guaranteed. This measure does reduce the declaration burden of the enterprises.
The third measure is to expand the pilot project of “inspection before shipment” for export LCL goods. According to the measure, 12 directly affiliated customs, including Shanghai, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Xiamen, Qingdao, Zhengzhou, Wuhan, Changsha, Guangzhou, Huangpu, Chengdu, and Xi'an, will carry out a pilot project of the “inspection before shipment” supervision mode for export LCL goods. The pilot project allows cross-border e-commerce export goods in the pilot area to enter the supervision operation site in the form of bulk goods, first undergo customs inspection, and then flexibly consolidate and ship according to actual needs. The supervision workplace can accurately grasp the actual situation of the goods and transmit the corresponding data in real-time through the Internet with the customs by establishing a real-time information collection system for each link such as goods entry, shelving, packing, and logistics transportation from the supervision workplace to the port. This measure improves the customs clearance efficiency of goods through flexible LCL shipment.
The fourth measure is to promote the supervision model of cross-custom returns for cross-border e-commerce retail exports. According to the measure, 20 directly affiliated customs, including Beijing, Tianjin, Dalian, Harbin, Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Hefei, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Nanchang, Qingdao, Zhengzhou, Changsha, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Huangpu, Chengdu, and Urumqi, will carry out a pilot supervision model for cross-border e-commerce retail export returns across customs areas. This pilot model allows returned goods from cross-border e-commerce retail exports to be returned across customs areas to the customs-supervised work sites (venues) where cross-border e-commerce retail export business is carried out. This measure can simplify the return process, reduce return logistics costs, and mitigate the risk of cargo loss.
Against the backdrop of global inflation, China’s high-quality domestic brands with good quality and low prices are favored by more and more consumers. This provides opportunities for the development of China’s cross-border e-commerce industry. The four measures in the Draft Announcement to optimize the cross-border e-commerce export supervision model can improve the customs clearance environment for cross-border e-commerce and promote the development of its export business.