Practical Difficulties and Solutions for Transshipment Trade and Indirect Trade

Practical Pain Points and Solutions for Transshipment Trade and Indirect Trade

In 2026,the regional layout of the global supply chain is accelerating,and many foreign trade enterprises turn to transshipment trade and indirect trade to expand emerging markets,but they often encounter pitfalls in practice due to complex cross-regional processes.Last year,when Mr.Cui from Shanghai was engaged in Southeast Asian transshipment trade,his goods were detained at the port due to inconsistent third-country documents,resulting in a 10-day delay and a loss of more than 20,000 yuan.Mr.Wei from Shenzhen suffered from delayed foreign exchange settlement which affected payments to suppliers due to non-compliant foreign exchange routes.These pain points are not isolated cases,but common challenges in transshipment trade and indirect trade.

1.Complex Document Matching: Customs Clearance Delays Caused by Differences in Customs Declaration Specifications of Three Countries

Pain Point Performance: Transshipment trade involves documents of three parties,namely the port of loading,the port of transshipment and the port of destination.Different countries have significant differences in requirements for bills of lading,packing lists and certificates of origin.Mr.Cui’s goods were shipped from Vietnam,transited through Singapore to Australia.Singapore required the bill of lading to show "on-board endorsement at transshipment port",but the Vietnamese freight forwarder did not fill in the content as required,which led to a request for supplementary materials during customs clearance in Singapore.The goods were detained at the port for 7 days,resulting in an additional storage fee of 12,000 yuan,and also missed the sales node of Australian customers.

Root Cause of Pain Points: Enterprises lack multi-regional customs declaration experience and find it difficult to simultaneously grasp the compliance requirements of documents of the three countries; most freight forwarders focus on a single region and cannot provide cross-regional document matching services; some enterprises do not conduct document pre-review to save costs,resulting in problems being discovered only during customs clearance.

Zhongshen Solution: In response to the pain points of document matching,Zhongshen has launched the "three-country document pre-review + synchronous docking" mechanism:

• We have a document team covering more than 20 countries in Southeast Asia,Europe and North America,and are familiar with the differences in customs declaration specifications of various countries in advance;
• Complete cross pre-review of documents of the port of loading,port of transshipment and port of destination 3 working days before the goods are shipped to ensure consistent information;
• Dock with local customs clearance agents at the transshipment port,and synchronize the document review progress in real time to avoid transshipment delays caused by document delays.

2.Restrictions on Foreign Exchange Receipt,Payment and Settlement: Difficulty in Matching Capital Flow and Goods Flow

Pain Point Performance: Foreign exchange receipt and payment for transshipment trade requires proof of one-to-one correspondence between goods flow and capital flow.However,some enterprises encounter delayed foreign exchange receipt and payment or restricted foreign exchange settlement because banks cannot verify the authenticity of transactions due to problems such as delayed provision of storage receipts at the transshipment port and non-standard bill of lading endorsement.Last year,when Mr.Wei from Shenzhen was engaged in European transshipment trade,the storage receipt from the transshipment port in the Netherlands did not mark "exclusive for transshipment trade",so the bank refused to handle foreign exchange settlement,which made him unable to pay the German supplier on time,resulting in an overdue penalty of 0.5%.

Root Cause of Pain Points: In 2026,foreign exchange supervision has stricter requirements for the authenticity review of transshipment trade,requiring the provision of triple matching proof of "bill of lading + storage receipt + trade contract"; enterprises lack foreign exchange compliance experience and cannot design capital paths that meet regulatory requirements in advance; some banks have insufficient support for transshipment trade business,and the review process is cumbersome.

Zhongshen Solution: In response to foreign exchange pain points,Zhongshen provides "compliance path design + exclusive bank channel" services:

• Design a capital receipt and payment path that meets foreign exchange regulatory requirements according to the enterprise’s transaction region and goods type to ensure the matching of goods flow and capital flow;
• Assist enterprises in preparing complete authenticity certification materials (including transshipment port storage receipts,bill of lading endorsements,trade contracts,etc.);
• Dock with exclusive transshipment trade channels of multiple banks to shorten the foreign exchange review time,and the foreign exchange settlement speed is 3-5 working days faster than ordinary channels.

3.Poor Logistics Transshipment Connection: Double Increase in Goods Risk and Cost

Pain Point Performance: Goods in transshipment trade need to stay at the transshipment port.Some enterprises fail to arrange storage and pre-inspection in advance,resulting in damage or loss of goods at the transshipment port,or unqualified sampling inspection at the port of destination.Last year,when Ms.Shi from Shanghai was engaged in Middle East transshipment trade,her goods were not treated with moisture-proof measures during storage at the transshipment port in Dubai,resulting in moisture damage to some electronic products,which were unqualified during sampling inspection by Saudi Arabia at the port of destination,facing return or destruction,losing 20% of the value of the goods.

Root Cause of Pain Points: Storage resources at transshipment ports are scattered,and it is difficult for enterprises to find exclusive storage that meets the characteristics of goods; some freight forwarders do not provide pre-inspection services at transshipment ports,resulting in high risk of sampling inspection at the port of destination; there is a lack of goods status monitoring,so problems in the transshipment process cannot be found in time.

Zhongshen Solution: In response to the pain points of logistics transshipment,Zhongshen has built the "exclusive storage at transshipment port + pre-inspection + real-time monitoring" system:

• We have exclusive storage at core transshipment ports such as Singapore,Dubai and Rotterdam,and can provide customized storage services (moisture-proof,anti-static,etc.) according to the type of goods (such as electronic products,chemical products);
• Provide pre-inspection services during goods transshipment,and inspect goods in advance according to the inspection standards of the port of destination to reduce the risk of unqualified sampling inspection;
• Monitor the location and status of goods at the transshipment port in real time through GPS and Internet of Things technology,and enterprises can query through the exclusive system.

Comparison of Process Differences Between Transshipment Trade and General Trade

Core Advantages of Zhongshen’s Transshipment Trade Services

As a Shanghai enterprise that has been deeply engaged in the foreign trade agency industry for more than 20 years,Zhongshen has built a full-process one-stop solution for the pain points of transshipment trade and indirect trade.Its core advantages are reflected in:

• Multi-regional resource integration: We have exclusive storage and customs clearance agents at core transshipment ports such as Singapore,Dubai and Rotterdam,covering more than 30 countries around the world;
• Professional team support: All members of the document team have more than 5 years of multi-regional customs declaration experience,and the foreign exchange team is familiar with the latest regulatory policies in 2026;
• Full-process visualization: Enterprises can query the document progress,foreign exchange status and goods location in real time through the exclusive system;
• Compliance risk guarantee: Predict compliance risks in transshipment trade in advance and provide solutions to avoid enterprises being punished for violations.

In 2026,transshipment trade and indirect trade will still be important ways for foreign trade enterprises to expand the market,but the pain points in practice need to be solved by professional agency institutions.With more than 20 years of industry experience,Zhongshen has helped more than 500 foreign trade enterprises complete transshipment trade,reduced problems such as document delays,foreign exchange restrictions and logistics risks,and improved the profit margin of enterprises.