Cross border e-commerce welcomes good news again. Cross border returns will be promoted nationwide starting today

In order to further promote cross-border e-commerce exports, the General Administration of Customs recently issued a notice announcing that from April 1, 2026, the cross-border e-commerce retail export commodity return mode will be promoted in customs across the country.

Cross border e-commerce retail export goods (customs supervision code: 9610) cross customs return refers to the supervision mode in which cross-border e-commerce enterprises can flexibly choose any customs port nationwide to handle the return and import procedures for goods exported overseas, without requiring them to be returned to the original export customs.

Previously, the General Administration of Customs issued the "Announcement on Further Promoting the Development of Cross border E-commerce Exports" in 2024, which clearly stated that 20 directly affiliated customs in Beijing, Tianjin, Dalian, Harbin, Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Hefei, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Nanchang, Qingdao, Zhengzhou, Changsha, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Huangpu, Chengdu, Urumqi and other cities will carry out pilot cross-border e-commerce retail export return supervision models. After more than a year of pilot testing, we now have the conditions for nationwide promotion.

According to the announcement released this time, cross customs returns are only applicable to cross-border e-commerce retail export goods, namely the "9610 model". At the same time, cross-border e-commerce retail export return goods can be returned across customs zones, and returned goods are only allowed to be returned to customs supervision workplaces or venues that carry out cross-border e-commerce retail export business.

Cross border e-commerce, as a new form of international trade, has developed rapidly in recent years and has become an important engine driving the growth of China's foreign trade. However, while cross-border e-commerce is rapidly developing, the issue of cross-border returns has always been a pain point and difficulty that troubles the industry's development.

Song Xiangqing, Vice President of the China Society of Business Economics, stated in an interview with Securities Daily that for enterprises, the cross customs return model breaks the restriction of "returning from the original export customs zone". Enterprises can independently choose any customs port in the country to handle returns, significantly reducing reverse logistics costs, shortening return cycles, activating overseas inventory, accelerating capital turnover, and solving the pain points of "difficult returns, high costs, and long cycles" that have long plagued the industry. This can significantly improve operational efficiency and international competitiveness.

For consumers, the simplification of the after-sales return path has shortened the waiting period, which helps to enhance the sense of security and satisfaction of overseas online shopping. This policy has achieved structural optimization of both supply and demand costs and experiences by breaking through the bottleneck of reverse logistics in the 'last mile' of cross-border exports, "said Chen Jianwei, a professor at the National Institute of International Business and Economics, to a reporter from Securities Daily.

It is worth mentioning that in February this year, the Ministry of Finance, the General Administration of Customs, and the State Administration of Taxation jointly issued the "Announcement on Tax Preferential Policies for Cross border E-commerce Export Returned Goods", which clarifies that for cross-border e-commerce export goods (excluding food) that are returned in their original state within 6 months due to unsold or returned reasons from January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2027, import tariffs, import value-added tax, and consumption tax will be exempted, and the already collected export tariffs can be refunded.

Combined with the nationwide customs promotion of cross-border e-commerce retail export goods return measures across customs zones, a synergistic effect of policies is formed to jointly reduce costs and increase efficiency for cross-border e-commerce enterprises.

In Chen Jianwei's view, the combined effect of multiple policies not only directly reduces the financial burden of enterprises, but also deeply reconstructs the risk compensation mechanism of cross-border e-commerce. In terms of cost control, the export return tax preferential policy can effectively offset the additional taxes and fees generated by exchanges, allowing enterprises to dare to seize the market by expanding SKUs (minimum inventory units). In terms of industrial ecology, policy synergy has helped enterprises establish a global after-sales guarantee system, enhancing the reputation of Chinese cross-border brands in international competition. Through this low-cost and efficient return loop design, relevant policies are driving cross-border e-commerce to shift from scale growth to a high-quality branding development model.