Analysis of bonded areas: key areas for cross-border e-commerce and special customs supervision

Free Trade Zone is a specific area under customs supervision established by China with the approval of the State Council. Its main functions include “bonded warehousing, import and export processing, and international trade.” This area enjoys the policy of “license-free, tax-free, and bonded” and implements the operation mode of “domestic customs and outside customs”. Therefore, it has become one of the economic areas with the highest degree of openness to the outside world, the most convenient operating mechanism and the most favorable policies in China.

In the bonded zone, incoming goods can undergo a variety of activities, including storage, modification, classification, mixing, exhibition and processing and manufacturing, but all operations must be carried out within the scope of customs supervision. Foreign goods do not have to pay import duties when stored in the bonded zone and can be exported freely with only a small storage fee. If these goods need to enter the country, relevant tariffs must be paid. Currently, bonded zones are mainly distributed in port cities, such as Shanghai, Tianjin, Dalian, Shenzhen, Fuzhou, Haikou, Xiamen, Guangzhou, Qingdao and Ningbo. The Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone is China’s first bonded zone and was established in 1990.

With the rapid development of cross-border e-commerce, companies with warehouses in bonded zones have gradually become “landlords” in the market and have achieved considerable profits. Many well-known warehousing companies, including foreign-funded companies such as Mapletree, Anbo and Gasley, are actively participating in this field. At the same time, the demand for e-commerce self-built warehousing is also rising sharply. For example, companies such as Cainiao, GLP and Goodman have set up warehousing centers and e-commerce logistics parks in many cities. Major cross-border e-commerce companies are also carrying out repeated warehouse building and docking work in pilot cities, which makes market competition more intense.

The policy advantages of the bonded zone are mainly reflected in the following four aspects:

1. Foreign goods are bonded after entering the zone and only need to undergo quarantine without inspection.
2. Domestic goods entering the zone are regarded as exports and enjoy tax refund policies.
3. Intra-zone transactions are not subject to value-added tax and consumption tax, and no import and export license management is required.
4. When goods leave the area and enter the country, they must be declared and taxed in accordance with relevant import regulations.

The Comprehensive Bonded Zone is a special customs supervision area with the function of a bonded port area. It enjoys relevant tax and foreign exchange policies. It combines the functions of a bonded area, an export processing zone, and a bonded logistics area to form a free trade form of “domestic customs and outside customs”, which is suitable for carrying out International transit, distribution, procurement, re-export trade and export processing services. Including the bonded zone of bonded warehouses, it covers the functions of bonded warehousing, export processing and re-export trade, and is distributed across the country. For example, Taiyuan Wusu, Chongqing Xiyong, Shanghai Waigaoqiao and other areas are typical examples.

At the same time, airport bonded zones are established at aviation ports open to the outside world, such as Beijing Tianzhu and Shanghai Pudong Airport. Bonded port areas generally refer to ports and the special customs supervision areas connected to them, such as Yangshan in Shanghai and Dongjiang in Tianjin. The dry port bonded zone is usually established at the intersection of railways and highways in inland economic center cities. It has logistics, warehousing and business functions to promote industrial agglomeration and regional radiation.

Through this multi-level regional division and policy advantages, the bonded zone not only provides convenient conditions for cross-border e-commerce, but also lays the foundation for the development of global trade.