2026 China Foreign Trade Logistics Policy and Regulation Compilation

Expanded draft (2026-08-13) | Replace node 931 zh-hans body → trilingual translation Retain all original policy facts; additions: policy background, detailed key measures, trends for the second half of 2026, and cross-links for further reading

Preface

From 2025 to 2026, China's foreign trade logistics sector will usher in a series of major policy changes. 2025 marks the final year of the "14th Five-Year Plan," and 2026 enters the initial stage of the "15th Five-Year Plan." The General Administration of Customs, together with 20 departments, has launched 25 cross-border trade facilitation measures and promoted them nationwide, covering aspects such as smooth logistics, support for new business formats, and smart supervision. This article systematically reviews the key points of foreign trade logistics policies from 2025 to 2026 for the reference of foreign trade and logistics practitioners.

Note: The data and policy information in this article are compiled as of 2026. For specific implementation, please refer to the latest announcements on the official websites of the General Administration of Customs, the Ministry of Commerce, and other competent authorities.

I. 25 Cross-Border Trade Facilitation Measures (Nationwide Promotion in January 2026)

In January 2026, the General Administration of Customs announced the nationwide replication and promotion of 25 cross-border trade facilitation measures, covering five major areas. These measures represent a systematic policy integration in the foreign trade customs clearance field, following the 2024 cross-border e-commerce regulatory adjustment (Announcement No. 167).

1. Promoting Efficient and Unimpeded Cross-Border Logistics (7 items)

• Integrated multimodal transport: Promote cooperation between the "Silk Road Maritime" and cross-border land transport corridors such as the China-Europe Railway Express and the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor.
• Container multimodal transport: Promote "one entrustment, one document throughout, one settlement, and one container to the end" for import and export containers to reduce logistics costs. For enterprises, this means expanded coverage of multimodal transport bills of lading, with cargo no longer requiring repeated customs declarations at transshipment points.
• Cross-border train support: Support the construction of China-Europe Railway Express assembly centers; in 2025, the number of China-Europe Railway Express trips exceeded 20,000 for the first time.
• International Road Transport (TIR): Support the development of TIR international road transport, enhancing direct road connectivity across the Eurasian continent.
• Air logistics optimization: Support the development of the "Air Silk Road" and expand "air-to-air transfer" and "air-road intermodal transport."
• Pre-positioned cargo stations: Optimize air cargo station operating models, support the construction of pre-positioned cargo stations, and shorten the connection time between cargo consolidation and export.
• Airside direct passage: Advance the "airside direct passage" supervision model at air ports.

2. Supporting the Development of New Business Formats and Models (5 items)

• Cross-border e-commerce overseas warehouses: Cancel the filing requirement for cross-border e-commerce export overseas warehouse enterprises, and implement the policy of "tax refund upon departure, accounting after sale" to shorten the period during which enterprise tax refund funds are tied up.
• Cross-customs-district returns: Comprehensively promote the cross-customs-district return supervision model for cross-border e-commerce retail exports.
• Green technology: Simplify air transport requirements for goods containing lithium batteries and other electric/battery-powered goods.
• Mutual recognition of electronic authentication: Carry out cross-border mutual recognition of commercial electronic authentication and electronic signatures.
• Medicine-food homology facilitation: Promote convenient customs clearance for imported goods classified as medicine-food homology.

3. Optimizing Supervision of Special Commodities (4 items)

• Export facilitation for the "new three items": Optimize the inspection and supervision model for exported lithium batteries, and promote the coordinated supervision model for "segmented-box shipment export of new energy vehicle power batteries."
• Automotive industry support: Support expanding the export scale of passenger electric vehicles, lithium batteries, and other products.
• "Integration of two certificates" for imported motor vehicles: Expand the pilot scope.
• Green channel for agricultural products: Establish more "green channels" for rapid customs clearance of agricultural products at ports.

4. Enhancing Smart Supervision Services (4 items)

• Smart Customs: The global "Smart Customs" online cooperation platform was launched, with 146 WCO member customs administrations joining.
• AI document review: Ningbo's "Yongzhi" AI document review agent improved customs clearance efficiency by 30%.
• AI intelligent image inspection: Average recognition time has been reduced to 12 seconds, and inspection time can be shortened to as little as 4 minutes.
• Single Window: The international trade "Single Window" has achieved electronic data exchange with 15 countries.

5. Enhancing Practical Benefits for Enterprises and the Public (5 items)

• AEO credit financing: Helped more than 3,200 AEO high-credit-rated enterprises obtain financing and credit support.
• Reduction of tax late fees: Reduced or exempted 20.961 million yuan in late fees on taxes for eligible enterprises.
• Faster export tax rebates: Optimize the export tax rebate process and shorten the rebate cycle.

2. Overview of Foreign Trade Data for 2025

• In 2025, China’s total value of foreign trade in goods was 45.47 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.8%.
• Cross-border e-commerce imports and exports reached 2.75 trillion yuan, up 69.7% from 2020.
• The number of China-Europe Railway Express trips exceeded 20,000 for the first time.
• The General Administration of Customs has issued a total of 115 facilitation measures.

Overall, cross-border e-commerce and the China-Europe Railway Express remain the main highlights of foreign trade growth, while smart, green development has become the key theme of customs clearance reform.

3. Trends Outlook for the Second Half of 2026

• Policies rolled out in batches: Detailed rules for the 25 measures will be issued successively by local customs authorities based on the characteristics of their local ports. Enterprises should continue to monitor notices from their local customs and the implementation timeline.
• Smart supervision deepens: Applications such as AI-based document review and AI-based image review will expand from pilot ports to more business scenarios. Standardized declaration data becomes key to reducing inspection rates.
• Cross-border e-commerce standardization: The scopes of declaration modes such as 9610/9810/9710 will be further refined, and the scope of application of the "tax refund upon departure" policy for overseas warehouses is expected to expand.
• Faster multimodal transport: The coverage of the "one bill of lading throughout" for containers expands, and the connection between sea-rail intermodal transport, China-Europe Railway Express, and coastal shipping becomes closer.

4. Impact and Recommendations for Import and Export Enterprises

1. Monitor the General Administration of Customs website: promptly obtain notices on implementation details and timelines from local customs
2. Leverage AEO policies: applying for AEO certification can provide customs clearance conveniences and financing support
3. Optimize logistics plans: with favorable multimodal transport policies, re-evaluate transport mode combinations, such as pairing sea and rail
4. Cross-border e-commerce compliance: use the overseas warehouse "tax refund upon departure" policy to improve cash flow, while ensuring declaration methods match the actual goods

Further Reading

• 2026 Customs New Policies and Cross-border E-commerce Supervision Guide: Detailed Explanation of 9610/9810/9710 Declaration Modes and AEO Certification Key Points
• Full Process of Export Tax Rebate: Declaration Conditions, Tax Rebate Rate Inquiry and Latest Policies

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