Express mail that is cleared as articles belongs to Class B express mail in the customs supervision system. According to the Announcement No. 19 of 2016 of the General Administration of Customs, Class B express mail is “personal articles for personal use collected or sent by domestic consignors (natural persons) (except for luggage items transported separately by passengers)”, and “the quantity limit, value limit, tax collection and management of Class B express mail shall comply with the relevant regulations of the General Administration of Customs on personal articles entering and leaving the country by post”.
From the perspective of formal requirements, the purchasing agent imports the purchased goods through the express delivery channel and delivers them directly to domestic consumers, which meets the formal characteristics of the express delivery channel such as “personal use” and “travel and mail tax”.
From the perspective of substantive requirements, the actual trade is that the purchasing agent aggregates the needs of domestic consumers (recipients) through platforms and WeChat merchants and collects payment, which constitutes domestic trade; contacts overseas sellers to purchase the purchased goods in bulk and pays for them, which constitutes international trade in bulk goods; then the purchasing agent contacts the domestic express delivery operator (express delivery declaration enterprise) to deliver the goods to domestic consumers (recipients) after customs clearance, completing the import delivery. As far as the import link is concerned, it meets the formal requirements, but if we restore the entire process, the essence of the trade is international trade of bulk goods between B2B, rather than the delivery of personal items.