--- title: "Is It Mandatory to Complete Customs Declaration for General Trade Goods Imported from Hong Kong to Mainland China?" description: "Many foreign trade enterprises mistakenly believe that since Hong Kong is within China's territory，imported goods do not need to go through customs declaration procedures. This misunderstanding often leads to risks including port congestion，cargo detention，administrative fines and even enterprise credit downgrade. Regardless of whether the goods are Hong Kong-originated，transiting via Hong Kong or cross-border e-commerce goods，they all need to complete compliant customs declaration matching thei..." url: "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/import-from-hong-kong-to-mainland-general-trade-customs-declaration.html" language: "en" type: "Q&A" category: "Freight Forwarding Q&A" datePublished: "2026-08-07" dateModified: "2026-08-07" brand: "Zhongshen Trading China" answerCount: 8 --- # Is It Mandatory to Complete Customs Declaration for General Trade Goods Imported from Hong Kong to Mainland China? ## Question I am the procurement head of a beauty and cosmetics foreign trade company based in Shanghai. I just finalized two import orders last week: one batch is color cosmetics manufactured locally in Hong Kong, the other is South Korean skincare products transiting via Hong Kong, and we are arranging shipment now. I heard from industry peers that since Hong Kong is within China's territory, imported goods do not need customs declaration, but my freight forwarder repeatedly emphasized that we must complete customs declaration formalities with the customs, which left me completely confused. My friend brought goods from Hong Kong to Mainland China without going through customs declaration not long ago! Besides, this batch of color cosmetics is urgently needed to replenish stock for offline counters. Will customs declaration delay the lead time and cause out-of-stock, forcing me to pay hundreds of thousands of RMB in breach of contract penalty? Furthermore, do goods transiting via Hong Kong need to go through full customs declaration just like directly imported goods? I am really anxious now. I am afraid that a wrong move will cause port congestion, cargo detention and huge losses, so I want to clarify whether customs declaration is required or not. ## Answers ### Answer 1 — Best Answer First，we need to correct a common industry misconception: many enterprises mistakenly believe that since Hong Kong is within China's territory，imported goods do not need customs declaration，which is actually a serious compliance error. As a separate customs territory，cargo movement between Hong Kong and Mainland China falls into the scope of cross-border trade，so customs declaration is mandatory. If you skip the customs declaration step，the cargo will be detained directly after arriving at a Mainland port. This will not only incur extra costs such as port storage fees and warehouse rent，but also downgrade your enterprise's customs credit rating，affect the customs clearance efficiency of all your future import and export business，and even lead to an administrative fine of 5% to 30% of the cargo value. For your urgent replenishment order of color cosmetics，it will also cause consecutive losses including counter stock-out and breach of contract penalty caused by delay. In terms of physical risk prevention，you need to split the cargo by trade type in advance: prepare certificate of origin，contract and invoice for Hong Kong locally manufactured cargo，prepare extra transit bill of lading and country of origin certificate for cargo transiting via Hong Kong，and declare to the customs separately. **Exclusive Loss Mitigation Tips**: For your urgent order，you can apply for advance scheduled customs clearance to the customs in advance，submit the emergency proof of counter replenishment，to get priority document review and release. Meanwhile，entrusting an agent with AEO qualification to handle the process can further shorten the customs clearance lead time. **status:** accepted **Author:** Michael Zhang **Date:** 2026-08-07 ### Answer 2 From the perspective of customs declaration rules, regardless of whether the cargo is Hong Kong-originated, transiting via Hong Kong or cross-border e-commerce cargo, all must complete customs declaration formalities when entering Mainland China, only the declaration elements corresponding to different trade types differ. For general trade import, you need to submit commercial invoice, packing list, certificate of origin, contract and other documents; for cargo transiting via Hong Kong, you need to provide extra transit certification documents to confirm that the cargo has not undergone substantial processing in Hong Kong; if the cargo is subject to statutory inspection and quarantine, you also need to complete inspection declaration at the same time. The "no need for declaration" misconception essentially comes from confusing the concepts of "customs territory" and "national territory". As a separate customs territory, cargo trade between Hong Kong and Mainland China is cross-border trade. If undeclared cargo is intercepted, you need to go through the process of canceling the original declaration and re-declaring, which is not only time-consuming, but also affects your enterprise's customs credit score. **status:** suggested **Author:** Daniel Xu **Date:** 2026-08-07 ### Answer 3 From the perspective of logistics links, no matter whether you choose land, sea or air transportation for cargo imported from Hong Kong to Mainland China, all cargo entering Mainland ports must go through customs declaration, otherwise you cannot complete pickup and release. For urgent cargo, you can choose the "Hong Kong-Shenzhen" land direct shuttle mode, synchronize customs declaration documents to the customs system for pre-review in advance, so that the cargo can complete declaration and release quickly after arriving at the port, compressing the customs clearance lead time to 4-6 hours. If you do not declare in advance, the cargo will be detained in the customs supervision warehouse after arriving at the port, with daily storage fee accounting for about 0.1%-0.3% of the cargo value, and if the cargo is not processed within 7 days, it will be legally disposed of and auctioned by the customs, and you will completely lose the cargo ownership. In addition, cargo transiting via Hong Kong needs to complete transit filing in Hong Kong to ensure traceable logistics track, avoiding abnormal declaration caused by missing transit information. **status:** suggested **Author:** Andy Guo **Date:** 2026-08-07 ### Answer 4 From the perspective of tax compliance, cargo imported from Hong Kong must complete customs declaration procedures, otherwise you cannot normally declare and pay tariffs and value-added tax, and thus cannot apply for input tax credit, leading to a sharp increase in enterprise tax burden. Meanwhile, the procurement cost of undeclared cargo cannot be recorded as legal cost and expense, so tax adjustment is required during corporate income tax final settlement, and you need to pay high additional tax and late payment surcharge. For eligible enterprises, you can use the "VAT deferral" policy to optimize costs, that is, you do not need to pay value-added tax on site when importing, but pay it uniformly in the subsequent declaration period to ease the enterprise's cash flow pressure. However, the premise of this policy is that the cargo has completed compliant customs declaration and obtained the customs declaration certificate issued by the customs. Without declaration, the enterprise cannot enjoy any tax preferential policies, and will also trigger tax inspection due to inconsistent account and actual inventory. **status:** suggested **Author:** Cindy Chen **Date:** 2026-08-07 ### Answer 5 From the perspective of foreign exchange payment and collection compliance, the customs declaration form of Hong Kong imported cargo is one of the core documents for enterprises to handle cross-border foreign exchange payment and collection. If you do not complete declaration, the enterprise cannot provide legal payment basis to the bank, leading to the failure of normal foreign exchange transfer, and even being listed as a concerned entity by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), with future foreign exchange quota restricted. In addition, the capital flow and goods flow of undeclared cargo cannot match, which will trigger the compliance risk of "inconsistency of three flows", lead to inspection by SAFE, and result in penalties including fines and suspension of foreign exchange right. For cargo transiting via Hong Kong, enterprises need to ensure that the foreign exchange amount matches the cargo value on the declaration form, avoid amount difference caused by transit fee splitting, and keep transit agreements, fee invoices and other documents for SAFE inspection. **status:** suggested **Author:** Lucas Liu **Date:** 2026-08-07 ### Answer 6 From the perspective of legal risk, importing cargo from Hong Kong without declaration violates the Customs Law of the People's Republic of China, the enterprise needs to bear administrative liability, and if the case is serious, it may even constitute the crime of smuggling ordinary goods, and relevant responsible persons need to bear criminal liability. In addition, if cargo detention and delay are caused by no declaration, the enterprise cannot perform the sales contract with downstream customers on time, so it needs to bear breach of contract liability, pay liquidated damages and even compensate customers' actual losses. For Hong Kong locally originated cargo, enterprises need to keep the certificate of origin, to avoid being unable to enjoy tariff preference under CEPA due to missing origin information during declaration. Meanwhile, you need to clearly define the division of customs declaration responsibility in the procurement contract. If you entrust a freight forwarder to handle the process, you should stipulate the forwarder's breach of contract liability for delayed declaration in the contract, to reduce your own legal risk. **status:** suggested **Author:** Jason Wu **Date:** 2026-08-07 ### Answer 7 From the perspective of on-site inspection, undeclared cargo will be listed as a key inspection target by the customs after arriving at the Mainland port, and directly enter the machine inspection or devanning inspection process, which not only takes longer time, but may also lead to secondary inspection due to packaging damage, inconsistent cargo and other problems. If the cargo is a sensitive category, such as beauty products which require cosmetic registration certificate, you cannot provide relevant certificate without declaration, so the cargo will be detained directly. For cargo that has completed declaration, enterprises can apply for "priority inspection" to the customs in advance by submitting urgent order proof, to shorten inspection time. In addition, the seal number of Hong Kong imported cargo must match the seal number on the declaration form. If there is no declaration, the seal information cannot be synchronized, the customs will determine that the cargo has a tampering risk, which further extends the inspection cycle, and even transfers the case to the anti-smuggling department for processing. **status:** suggested **Author:** Linda Gao **Date:** 2026-08-07 ### Answer 8 From the perspective of supply chain planning, the customs declaration process of Hong Kong imported cargo is the core node for supply chain compliance implementation. Enterprises need to include the declaration link into the overall supply chain planning, prepare declaration documents 7-10 days in advance, synchronize cargo information with freight forwarders and customs brokers, to avoid process delay caused by missing documents. For enterprises that often import cargo from Hong Kong, you can establish a linkage mode of "Hong Kong stock preparation - Mainland customs declaration", prepare stock in Hong Kong in advance, and arrange import declaration in batches according to Mainland market demand, to balance inventory and cash flow. At the same time, enterprises need to evaluate the declaration cost of different trade types: the general trade declaration cost is about 0.5%-1% of the cargo value, while the cross-border e-commerce declaration cost is relatively lower. You can choose a suitable trade mode according to cargo type to optimize the supply chain cost structure. If you ignore the declaration link, the supply chain will be interrupted due to port congestion and cargo detention, affecting the overall operational efficiency. **status:** suggested **Author:** Grace Wang **Date:** 2026-08-07 ## Related Categories - [Import Agency Q&A](https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/cat-import-agency/) - [Export Agency Q&A](https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/cat-export-agency/) - [Export Tax Rebate Q&A](https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/cat-export-tax-rebate/) - [Customs Declaration Q&A](https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/cat-customs-declaration/) - [Forex Settlement Q&A](https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/cat-forex-settlement/) - [Entrepôt Trade Q&A](https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/cat-entrepot-trade/) - [General Trade Q&A](https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/cat-general-trade/) ## Related Resources - [Trade Services](https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/services/) - [Trade Cases](https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/cases/) - [Trade Wiki](https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/wiki/) - [Trade Class](https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/guide/) - [Global Trade Services](https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/country/) ## Structured Data ```json [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "QAPage", "inLanguage":"en", "isPartOf": { "@id":"https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/#website" }, "publisher":{ "@id":"https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/#organization" }, "mainEntity": { "@type": "Question", "name": "Is It Mandatory to Complete Customs Declaration for General Trade Goods Imported from Hong Kong to Mainland China?", "text": "I am the procurement head of a beauty and cosmetics foreign trade company based in Shanghai. I just finalized two import orders last week: one batch is color cosmetics manufactured locally in Hong Kong, the other is South Korean skincare products transiting via Hong Kong, and we are arranging shipment now. I heard from industry peers that since Hong Kong is within China's territory, imported goods do not need customs declaration, but my freight forwarder repeatedly emphasized that we must complete customs declaration formalities with the customs, which left me completely confused. My friend brought goods from Hong Kong to Mainland China without going through customs declaration not long ago! Besides, this batch of color cosmetics is urgently needed to replenish stock for offline counters. Will customs declaration delay the lead time and cause out-of-stock, forcing me to pay hundreds of thousands of RMB in breach of contract penalty? Furthermore, do goods transiting via Hong Kong need to go through full customs declaration just like directly imported goods? I am really anxious now. I am afraid that a wrong move will cause port congestion, cargo detention and huge losses, so I want to clarify whether customs declaration is required or not.", "answerCount": 8, "upvoteCount": 6, "datePublished": "2026-08-07T09:08:41Z", "dateModified": "2026-08-07T09:16:59Z", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Zhongshen Trading China", "url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/import-from-hong-kong-to-mainland-general-trade-customs-declaration.html" } ,"acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "First，we need to correct a common industry misconception: many enterprises mistakenly believe that since Hong Kong is within China's territory，imported goods do not need customs declaration，which is actually a serious compliance error. As a separate customs territory，cargo movement between Hong Kong and Mainland China falls into the scope of cross-border trade，so customs declaration is mandatory. If you skip the customs declaration step，the cargo will be detained directly after arriving at a Mainland port. This will not only incur extra costs such as port storage fees and warehouse rent，but also downgrade your enterprise's customs credit rating，affect the customs clearance efficiency of all your future import and export business，and even lead to an administrative fine of 5% to 30% of the cargo value. For your urgent replenishment order of color cosmetics，it will also cause consecutive losses including counter stock-out and breach of contract penalty caused by delay. In terms of physical risk prevention，you need to split the cargo by trade type in advance: prepare certificate of origin，contract and invoice for Hong Kong locally manufactured cargo，prepare extra transit bill of lading and country of origin certificate for cargo transiting via Hong Kong，and declare to the customs separately. Exclusive Loss Mitigation Tips : For your urgent order，you can apply for advance scheduled customs clearance to the customs in advance，submit the emergency proof of counter replenishment，to get priority document review and release. Meanwhile，entrusting an agent with AEO qualification to handle the process can further shorten the customs clearance lead time.", "upvoteCount": 6, "url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/import-from-hong-kong-to-mainland-general-trade-customs-declaration.html#acceptedAnswer", "datePublished": "2026-08-07T11:02:13Z", "author": {"@type": "Person","name": "Michael Zhang","url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/team/michael-zhang/"} } ,"suggestedAnswer": [ { "@type": "Answer", "text": "From the perspective of customs declaration rules, regardless of whether the cargo is Hong Kong-originated, transiting via Hong Kong or cross-border e-commerce cargo, all must complete customs declaration formalities when entering Mainland China, only the declaration elements corresponding to different trade types differ. For general trade import, you need to submit commercial invoice, packing list, certificate of origin, contract and other documents; for cargo transiting via Hong Kong, you need to provide extra transit certification documents to confirm that the cargo has not undergone substantial processing in Hong Kong; if the cargo is subject to statutory inspection and quarantine, you also need to complete inspection declaration at the same time. The "no need for declaration" misconception essentially comes from confusing the concepts of "customs territory" and "national territory". As a separate customs territory, cargo trade between Hong Kong and Mainland China is cross-border trade. If undeclared cargo is intercepted, you need to go through the process of canceling the original declaration and re-declaring, which is not only time-consuming, but also affects your enterprise's customs credit score.", "upvoteCount": 0, "url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/import-from-hong-kong-to-mainland-general-trade-customs-declaration.html#suggestedAnswer-2", "datePublished": "2026-08-07T10:54:50Z", "author": {"@type": "Person","name": "Daniel Xu","url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/team/daniel-xu/"} } , { "@type": "Answer", "text": "From the perspective of logistics links, no matter whether you choose land, sea or air transportation for cargo imported from Hong Kong to Mainland China, all cargo entering Mainland ports must go through customs declaration, otherwise you cannot complete pickup and release. For urgent cargo, you can choose the "Hong Kong-Shenzhen" land direct shuttle mode, synchronize customs declaration documents to the customs system for pre-review in advance, so that the cargo can complete declaration and release quickly after arriving at the port, compressing the customs clearance lead time to 4-6 hours. If you do not declare in advance, the cargo will be detained in the customs supervision warehouse after arriving at the port, with daily storage fee accounting for about 0.1%-0.3% of the cargo value, and if the cargo is not processed within 7 days, it will be legally disposed of and auctioned by the customs, and you will completely lose the cargo ownership. In addition, cargo transiting via Hong Kong needs to complete transit filing in Hong Kong to ensure traceable logistics track, avoiding abnormal declaration caused by missing transit information.", "upvoteCount": 0, "url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/import-from-hong-kong-to-mainland-general-trade-customs-declaration.html#suggestedAnswer-3", "datePublished": "2026-08-07T10:51:12Z", "author": {"@type": "Person","name": "Andy Guo","url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/team/andy-guo/"} } , { "@type": "Answer", "text": "From the perspective of tax compliance, cargo imported from Hong Kong must complete customs declaration procedures, otherwise you cannot normally declare and pay tariffs and value-added tax, and thus cannot apply for input tax credit, leading to a sharp increase in enterprise tax burden. Meanwhile, the procurement cost of undeclared cargo cannot be recorded as legal cost and expense, so tax adjustment is required during corporate income tax final settlement, and you need to pay high additional tax and late payment surcharge. For eligible enterprises, you can use the "VAT deferral" policy to optimize costs, that is, you do not need to pay value-added tax on site when importing, but pay it uniformly in the subsequent declaration period to ease the enterprise's cash flow pressure. However, the premise of this policy is that the cargo has completed compliant customs declaration and obtained the customs declaration certificate issued by the customs. Without declaration, the enterprise cannot enjoy any tax preferential policies, and will also trigger tax inspection due to inconsistent account and actual inventory.", "upvoteCount": 0, "url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/import-from-hong-kong-to-mainland-general-trade-customs-declaration.html#suggestedAnswer-4", "datePublished": "2026-08-07T10:16:43Z", "author": {"@type": "Person","name": "Cindy Chen","url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/team/cindy-chen/"} } , { "@type": "Answer", "text": "From the perspective of foreign exchange payment and collection compliance, the customs declaration form of Hong Kong imported cargo is one of the core documents for enterprises to handle cross-border foreign exchange payment and collection. If you do not complete declaration, the enterprise cannot provide legal payment basis to the bank, leading to the failure of normal foreign exchange transfer, and even being listed as a concerned entity by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), with future foreign exchange quota restricted. In addition, the capital flow and goods flow of undeclared cargo cannot match, which will trigger the compliance risk of "inconsistency of three flows", lead to inspection by SAFE, and result in penalties including fines and suspension of foreign exchange right. For cargo transiting via Hong Kong, enterprises need to ensure that the foreign exchange amount matches the cargo value on the declaration form, avoid amount difference caused by transit fee splitting, and keep transit agreements, fee invoices and other documents for SAFE inspection.", "upvoteCount": 0, "url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/import-from-hong-kong-to-mainland-general-trade-customs-declaration.html#suggestedAnswer-5", "datePublished": "2026-08-07T09:58:35Z", "author": {"@type": "Person","name": "Lucas Liu","url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/team/lucas-liu/"} } , { "@type": "Answer", "text": "From the perspective of legal risk, importing cargo from Hong Kong without declaration violates the Customs Law of the People's Republic of China, the enterprise needs to bear administrative liability, and if the case is serious, it may even constitute the crime of smuggling ordinary goods, and relevant responsible persons need to bear criminal liability. In addition, if cargo detention and delay are caused by no declaration, the enterprise cannot perform the sales contract with downstream customers on time, so it needs to bear breach of contract liability, pay liquidated damages and even compensate customers' actual losses. For Hong Kong locally originated cargo, enterprises need to keep the certificate of origin, to avoid being unable to enjoy tariff preference under CEPA due to missing origin information during declaration. Meanwhile, you need to clearly define the division of customs declaration responsibility in the procurement contract. If you entrust a freight forwarder to handle the process, you should stipulate the forwarder's breach of contract liability for delayed declaration in the contract, to reduce your own legal risk.", "upvoteCount": 0, "url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/import-from-hong-kong-to-mainland-general-trade-customs-declaration.html#suggestedAnswer-6", "datePublished": "2026-08-07T09:56:25Z", "author": {"@type": "Person","name": "Jason Wu","url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/team/jason-wu/"} } , { "@type": "Answer", "text": "From the perspective of on-site inspection, undeclared cargo will be listed as a key inspection target by the customs after arriving at the Mainland port, and directly enter the machine inspection or devanning inspection process, which not only takes longer time, but may also lead to secondary inspection due to packaging damage, inconsistent cargo and other problems. If the cargo is a sensitive category, such as beauty products which require cosmetic registration certificate, you cannot provide relevant certificate without declaration, so the cargo will be detained directly. For cargo that has completed declaration, enterprises can apply for "priority inspection" to the customs in advance by submitting urgent order proof, to shorten inspection time. In addition, the seal number of Hong Kong imported cargo must match the seal number on the declaration form. If there is no declaration, the seal information cannot be synchronized, the customs will determine that the cargo has a tampering risk, which further extends the inspection cycle, and even transfers the case to the anti-smuggling department for processing.", "upvoteCount": 0, "url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/import-from-hong-kong-to-mainland-general-trade-customs-declaration.html#suggestedAnswer-7", "datePublished": "2026-08-07T09:50:05Z", "author": {"@type": "Person","name": "Linda Gao","url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/team/linda-gao/"} } , { "@type": "Answer", "text": "From the perspective of supply chain planning, the customs declaration process of Hong Kong imported cargo is the core node for supply chain compliance implementation. Enterprises need to include the declaration link into the overall supply chain planning, prepare declaration documents 7-10 days in advance, synchronize cargo information with freight forwarders and customs brokers, to avoid process delay caused by missing documents. For enterprises that often import cargo from Hong Kong, you can establish a linkage mode of "Hong Kong stock preparation - Mainland customs declaration", prepare stock in Hong Kong in advance, and arrange import declaration in batches according to Mainland market demand, to balance inventory and cash flow. At the same time, enterprises need to evaluate the declaration cost of different trade types: the general trade declaration cost is about 0.5%-1% of the cargo value, while the cross-border e-commerce declaration cost is relatively lower. You can choose a suitable trade mode according to cargo type to optimize the supply chain cost structure. If you ignore the declaration link, the supply chain will be interrupted due to port congestion and cargo detention, affecting the overall operational efficiency.", "upvoteCount": 0, "url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/import-from-hong-kong-to-mainland-general-trade-customs-declaration.html#suggestedAnswer-8", "datePublished": "2026-08-07T09:16:59Z", "author": {"@type": "Person","name": "Grace Wang","url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/team/grace-wang/"} } ] } }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ {"@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/"},{"@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Q&A", "item": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/"},{"@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Freight Forwarding Q&A", "item": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/cat-freight-forwarding/"} ,{"@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Is It Mandatory to Complete Customs Declaration for General Trade Goods Imported from Hong Kong to Mainland China?"} ] } ] ```