Practical Pain Points of Transit Trade FDI and Zhongshen's Agency Solutions

2026 Core Pain Points of Transit Trade FDI Business and Agency Solutions

I.Pain Points of Document Compliance and Customs Declaration

Mr.Dong,head of an electronics foreign trade company in Shanghai,received an order for transshipment from Vietnam to the Middle East this year,with goods being smart phone accessories valued at approximately USD 1.2 million.As the goods description on the bill of lading was "mobile phone accessories" while the certificate of origin stated "smart phone components",the inconsistent descriptions led to the declaration being rejected by Shanghai Customs.Document revision took 3 days,resulting in the expiration of the scheduled shipping space for the Middle East route.The enterprise had to rebook the next voyage,incurring additional document amendment fees and shipping space premiums,plus a claim from the client for delayed delivery,with direct losses exceeding RMB 80,000.

In 2026,RCEP member states added a "third-party certification" requirement for the review of certificates of origin for transshipped goods,which requires the provision of warehousing certificates or processing records of goods in the transit country.Some enterprises failed to learn about this policy in time,leading to the failure of certificate of origin review and ineligibility for RCEP tariff reductions (with an average reduction rate of 10%-15%).Transit trade involves customs of at least two countries,with large differences in document requirements (for example,Vietnam requires the bill of lading to show the final destination,and some Middle Eastern countries require additional consular authentication).In-house document personnel of enterprises often fail to keep up with the latest policy updates of different countries and lack cross-regional declaration experience,which easily leads to document chain fractures.

• Zhongshen has a document compliance team of more than 20 members,with dedicated personnel tracking customs policies of key markets such as RCEP,ASEAN and the Middle East,and updates the 2026 Transit Trade Document Compliance Manual monthly.Since the beginning of this year,it has helped more than 30 clients solve document inconsistency problems;
• Provides dual guarantee of "pre-audit + on-site declaration",completes cross-border document consistency check within 24 hours after clients submit documents,and issues modification suggestions for discrepancies;
• Connects to the special transit trade channel of Shanghai Customs Single Window,gives priority to processing declaration documents of agency enterprises,and the average customs clearance time in 2026 is 40% shorter than that of enterprises’ self-declaration.

II.Pain Points of Foreign Exchange Receipt/Payment and Settlement Risks

Manager Bai of a smart hardware company in Shenzhen handled a transit trade business from South Korea to Brazil this year,with funds to be received and paid through a third-party account in Hong Kong.The bank required the provision of "transit trade logistics trajectory + warehousing certificate + qualification documents of the Brazilian importer",but the enterprise only prepared the bill of lading and contract,lacking the warehousing certificate for the section from South Korea to Hong Kong,leading to a 12-day delay in foreign exchange receipt and payment.At that time,the enterprise needed the funds to purchase raw materials,so it had to apply for deferred payment to the supplier,incurring a 1.5% late fee with a loss of approximately RMB 18,000.In addition,the Brazilian Real fluctuated by 8% against RMB this year,and the enterprise did not take any hedging measures,resulting in a loss of more than RMB 60,000 during foreign exchange settlement.

Transit trade features "separation of capital flow and goods flow" (goods do not enter the domestic territory,but funds need to be received and paid cross-border).In 2026,the State Administration of Foreign Exchange strengthened the review of the authenticity of transit trade foreign exchange,requiring the provision of "closed-loop proof of goods circulation" (that is,the complete logistics trajectory from the country of origin to the transit country and then to the destination country).Many enterprises cannot meet the review requirements due to the lack of warehousing or transportation vouchers in the transit country.At the same time,currency fluctuations in emerging markets have intensified,and enterprises lack compliance experience in cross-border foreign exchange receipt and payment as well as exchange rate hedging mechanisms,which easily leads to additional losses.

• Zhongshen has established green channels for transit trade foreign exchange receipt and payment with 12 banks including HSBC and Bank of China,and pre-audits the full set of vouchers required for foreign exchange receipt and payment for clients in advance,including transit trade logistics trajectory,third-party warehousing certificates,and counterparty qualifications;
• Provides one-stop service of "foreign exchange receipt and payment + exchange rate hedging",and recommends tools such as forward foreign exchange settlement and foreign exchange options to clients based on 2026 emerging market currency fluctuation data,reducing exchange rate losses by an average of 3.2%;
• Assists clients in completing the declaration of transit trade receipts and payments to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange,ensuring that the declaration information is consistent with customs and bank data,and no agency client has been penalized for declaration violations since 2026.

III.Pain Points of Warehousing and Logistics Connection

Ms.Xue of an industry and trade company in Zhejiang handled a transit trade FDI business from Germany to India this year,with goods being auto parts valued at approximately USD 800,000.After the goods arrived at the Shanghai Free Trade Zone,the warehousing party failed to update the warehousing status of the goods in time,resulting in the transit shipping company being unable to confirm whether the goods were in place,and the scheduled shipping space for the Indian route was cancelled.After rebooking,the shipping space price increased by 25%,plus the goods were stored in the FTZ for 5 days beyond the time limit,incurring an overdue warehousing fee of RMB 12,000.In addition,this batch of goods needed to be labeled for the Indian market in the FTZ,but ordinary warehousing enterprises do not have customs supervision qualifications and cannot provide processing services.Ms.Xue contacted 3 enterprises that all failed to meet the requirements,causing a 2-day delay.

In 2026,the Shanghai Free Trade Zone upgraded its warehousing supervision requirements for transshipped goods,requiring warehousing enterprises to have "customs supervision qualification + cross-border logistics connection system",which many ordinary warehousing enterprises cannot meet,resulting in the failure to timely meet the warehousing and processing needs of enterprises for transshipped goods.At the same time,the logistics connection of transshipped goods requires real-time synchronization with the shipping space systems of international shipping companies,and enterprises’ self-connection is prone to information lag,leading to shipping space delays.

• Zhongshen has 3 customs-supervised warehousing outlets in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone,with a total area of 22,000 ㎡,which can provide compliant processing services for transshipped goods such as storage,sorting,labeling and packaging;
• Connects to the real-time shipping space systems of 15 major global shipping companies including Maersk and MSC,locks transit shipping schedules 7 days in advance,and has helped clients avoid more than 30 shipping space delays since 2026;
• Establishes a dynamic warehousing monitoring system,updates goods status in real time through RFID technology,and automatically reminds clients of the warehousing period of transshipped goods (the maximum warehousing period for transshipped goods in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone is 90 days) to avoid overdue fees.

Core Differences Between Enterprise Self-operation and Agency Operation

Core Advantages of Zhongshen’s Transit Trade FDI Agency Services

• With over 20 years of deep engagement in the industry,Zhongshen has Class A enterprise qualification of Shanghai Customs,and its transit trade declaration experience covers more than 30 countries around the world.Its business volume has increased by 35% year-on-year since 2026;
• Provides full-process one-stop services including "customs declaration and inspection,international transportation,warehousing management,foreign exchange receipt and payment,foreign exchange settlement and purchase,export tax refund",eliminating the need for clients to connect with multiple service providers;
• Has a special transit trade FDI team of more than 10 members,each client is equipped with an exclusive account manager,who responds to demands 7×12 hours,and the average problem solving time is no more than 2 hours;
• Since 2026,it has provided transit trade FDI agency services for more than 500 foreign trade enterprises,processed more than 20,000 documents in total,has no record of compliance penalties,and helped clients save approximately 12% of comprehensive costs.