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In 2025, driven by policy norms and market demand, China's cross-border e-commerce will officially enter the stage of "normalization, refinement, and compliance" development. The General Administration of Customs, the Ministry of Commerce and other departments have successively issued detailed rules to clarify regulatory boundaries and operational procedures; The consumer market presents the characteristics of "layered upgrading, scene integration, and digital empowerment". This report systematically interprets the key policy points for 2025, proposes a response framework for enterprises to "build compliance and improve operational efficiency", and provides a list of feasible suggestions for implementation. Research shows that policies may temporarily increase compliance costs, but in the long run, they will accelerate industry reshuffling, helping compliant companies build trust barriers and scale advantages.   

1、 Key Policy Interpretation: Standardization and Transparency of the Regulatory System in 2025

（1） Customs supervision: standardizing the entire process to enhance certainty

In 2025, the General Administration of Customs issued the "Announcement on Further Regulating the Supervision of Retail Imported Goods in Cross border E-commerce" (No. 12 of 2025) around the core links of cross-border e-commerce, focusing on three major processes:

Bonded warehousing: Enterprises are required to establish a physical isolation mechanism for "bonded goods domestic circulation goods" and achieve full traceability through the "one item, one code" system. Violating regulations will result in the suspension of the right to use the bonded warehouse (up to 6 months) and a fine of 5% of the value of the goods;   

• Return and destruction: Refine the definition of "expired goods" (with a remaining shelf life of less than 30 days), and declare the return to customs 30 days in advance; Non degradable packaging (such as disposable plastics) must be separately classified and destroyed, and environmental qualification certificates must be provided. Enterprises that fail to meet the standards will be included in the "key supervision list";   

Declaration verification: Strengthen the accuracy of "commodity HS code pre classification". Enterprises need to submit auxiliary materials such as "ingredient testing report" and "function description". False declaration will trigger "control inspection" (the inspection rate will be increased to 30%).   

（2） Ministry of Commerce and Local Government: Dual Wheel Drive of Digitization and Service Export

According to data from the Ministry of Commerce, the import and export volume of cross-border e-commerce in China reached 1.95 trillion yuan in the first half of 2025, a year-on-year increase of 19%, and is expected to exceed 4 trillion yuan for the whole year. Policy orientation shifts from "scale expansion" to "quality improvement":

Digital empowerment: Promote the "Cross border E-commerce Comprehensive Service Platform", integrate customs, tax, and logistics data, and achieve "second level customs clearance" (average clearance time reduced from 48 hours to 6 hours);   

• Service export support: Encourage enterprises to go global through the "cross-border e-commerce+service" model, and provide a 15% tax discount on service exports such as "live streaming operation" and "overseas warehouse operation and maintenance" (Caishui [2025] No. 18);   

Local refinement: Comprehensive pilot zones such as Shanghai and Guangzhou have launched "Cross border E-commerce Compliance Service Centers", providing one-stop services of "policy interpretation+application guidance+risk warning", reducing compliance costs for enterprises by 25% (Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, 2025).   

2、 Enterprise response framework: dual track parallel of compliance building and operational efficiency improvement

（1） Compliance System: From "Passive Response" to "Active Management"

Enterprises need to build a full chain compliance capability covering "declaration circulation after-sales":

Declaration compliance: Establish a "Customs Declaration Ledger" to record the HS code, country of origin, declared value, and inspection and quarantine certificate number of each batch of goods, ensuring consistency with the actual goods (data can be automatically captured through the ERP system);   

• Labels and Ingredients: Pre packaged foods must be labeled in Chinese, with mandatory labeling of "country of origin", "domestic agent", "nutritional content table", and "allergen information" (if containing nuts, label "this product contains peanuts"), with font height ≥ 1.8mm (GB 7718-2025); Non food products (such as beauty products) need to complete the "Import Non Special Purpose Cosmetics Filing", and the filing number should be prominently displayed on the details page;   

Inspection and Quarantine: High risk categories such as imported fresh produce and health products must apply for an "Entry Animal and Plant Quarantine License" in advance. Sampling and testing must be completed within 24 hours after arrival, and only products that pass the test can be sold (unqualified products must be destroyed and recorded).   

（2） Operational efficiency improvement: Standardized SOP drives scaling

Through the SOP standardization of the four major stages of "online customer acquisition warehouse distribution collaboration customer service return and exchange", efficiency and experience have been improved:

• Online customer acquisition: develop the standard process of "content grass planting - SHM launch - live broadcast room conversion". For example, Tiktok launch needs to test three types of materials, namely, "product function video", "user evaluation" and "scenario scenario", and the ROI target is set at 1:3 or more;   

Warehouse and Distribution Collaboration: Adopting an "Intelligent Warehouse Allocation System" to dynamically allocate inventory based on user distribution (such as prioritizing orders from customers in East China to be shipped from the Shanghai warehouse), with delivery time targets controlled at a "next day delivery" coverage rate of over 80%;   

Customer service: Establish a "7 × 12 hour Chinese customer service" team, set up a graded response mechanism of "pre-sales consultation - after-sales issues - complaint handling", with a first response time of ≤ 15 minutes and a problem resolution rate target of ≥ 90%;   

• Return and exchange process: Connect to the "Cross border Return and Exchange Green Channel" (such as Cainiao's "Global Return"), clarify rules such as "return goods must be unopened" and "can be resold after passing quality inspection", and compress the return and exchange processing time to within 72 hours.   

3、 Suggested checklist: Three key actions that can be executed upon implementation

（1） Establish a dedicated compliance officer to liaise with localized services

Role positioning: Led by a director level personnel familiar with customs regulations and with cross-border business experience, responsible for coordinating compliance declaration, label review, crisis response, and other related tasks;   

External collaboration: Sign a "compliance fallback agreement" with third-party service providers (such as customs brokers and inspection agencies) to ensure that customs clearance, testing, and other processes comply with regulatory requirements (it is recommended to choose service providers with "cross-border e-commerce service qualifications").   

（2） Staged warehousing strategy: flexible transition from trial to scale

• Initial stage (0-12 months): Adopting the "cross-border direct mail+bonded warehouse small batch stocking" model, direct mail meets the "testing needs" (single shipment quantity ≤ 500 pieces), and the bonded warehouse covers "high repurchase items" (such as coffee and beauty), reducing inventory backlog risks;   

Mid term (12-24 months): After verifying market demand, build local warehouses in core cities in East and South China (such as Shanghai and Guangzhou), shorten delivery time to "next day delivery", and connect to emerging channels such as "pre warehouse" coverage of community group buying;   

Long term (24 months+): Layout the linkage mode of "overseas warehouse+domestic warehouse", with the overseas warehouse responsible for "consolidation and export" and the domestic warehouse responsible for "distribution and delivery", achieving efficient connection between the "global supply chain and the Chinese consumer market".   

（3） Develop crisis response SOP to cover all scenario risks

• Return scenario: If the return is triggered due to non-compliance with the label, a "rectification plan" (such as re labeling) must be submitted within 48 hours, and a "situation explanation" must be submitted to the customs to avoid punishment;   

Destruction scenario: For expired or unqualified goods, it is necessary to entrust an institution with a "Hazardous Waste Operation License" to destroy them, and keep the "Destruction Certificate" and "Video Record" for future reference;   

Regulatory sampling: Upon receiving the sampling notice, provide the "product file" (including customs declaration, inspection report, label sample) within 24 hours, cooperate with sampling and follow up on the test results. If it is not qualified, immediately remove it from the shelves and recall the sold products.   

Conclusion

In 2025, China's cross-border e-commerce policy environment will shift from "loose and inclusive" to "standardized and transparent", and the short-term increase in compliance costs will actually lay the foundation for the long-term healthy development of the industry. Enterprises need to view compliance as a "competitive barrier" rather than a "burden" - by establishing a full chain compliance system, standardizing operational SOPs, and localizing service capabilities, not only can regulatory risks be avoided, but also consumer trust can be won, achieving scale expansion. It is recommended that cross-border brands take a timeline of "1 year to lay the foundation (compliance+trial water), 2 years to improve efficiency (operational SOP), and 3 years to scale up (omnichannel penetration)", seize the policy window period, and seize the opportunity in the wave of consumer upgrading in China.