--- title: "Is the transaction scale of domestic and overseas transit trade included in the national total import and export statistics?" description: "When carrying out transit trade，enterprises often fall into confusion about whether to include relevant business into the total import and export volume due to vague understanding of statistical caliber，settlement modes and special rules for bonded zones，which easily leads to compliance risks and data declaration errors. Statistical standards under different scenarios need to be clarified: transit trade conducted in non-bonded domestic areas is not included in the national total import and expor..." url: "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/transit-trade-transaction-scale-inclusion-in-national-import-export-total.html" language: "en" type: "Q&A" category: "Entrepôt Trade Q&A" datePublished: "2026-07-08" dateModified: "2026-07-08" brand: "Zhongshen Trading China" answerCount: 7 --- # Is the transaction scale of domestic and overseas transit trade included in the national total import and export statistics? ## Question I am a foreign trade manager of a company based in Shanghai specializing in transit trade with Southeast Asia. Last week I received a notice requiring submission of annual total import and export volume declaration materials, and our company is also applying for municipal-level foreign trade support funds, both of which are directly linked to the total import and export volume data, but I am completely confused right now. Our previous transit business falls into three categories: one is goods stored in Yangshan Bonded Zone warehouse before resale to European customers, one is goods directly transshipped at Singapore port to Australia, and there is also contactless transit trade settled via offshore accounts. I checked some scattered materials with inconsistent views, some said it should be counted while others said not. If I fill in the data incorrectly, we will not only fail to get the support funds, but also may be identified as abnormal data declaration by the customs. I need to submit the materials next week, I am so anxious that I can barely eat, so I hurry to get a clear answer on whether these transit trade businesses are counted into the total import and export volume? ## Answers ### Answer 1 — Best Answer First of all，common industry misunderstandings need to be clarified: many enterprises hold the binary wrong cognition that "all transit trade is counted / not counted in the total import and export volume"，ignoring the scenario differences of statistical caliber，which is also the core cause of declaration errors. Blind filing will trigger a chain of negative reactions: for example，if transit trade with direct overseas transshipment is incorrectly included in the total volume，the enterprise's declared data will not conform to the customs statistical caliber，which will not only lead to the rejection of foreign trade support fund application，but also may make the enterprise listed as a key customs inspection object，affecting the efficiency of all subsequent customs clearance business，if the bonded zone transit trade data is omitted，the enterprise will lose the qualification for support fund application，resulting in direct economic losses. Physical risk isolation measures shall be distinguished by scenarios: **Transit trade with direct overseas transshipment (goods not entering the territory)** shall not be included in the total import and export volume，**Goods for transit trade stored in domestic bonded zones (already entered the bonded zones after entering the territory)** shall be included in the total import and export volume under customs statistics，settlement methods (such as offshore accounts) do not affect the statistical judgment，and the core basis is whether the goods actually enter the territory. Exclusive loss mitigation tips: sort out logistics vouchers of all transit businesses immediately，retrieve entry filing lists for bonded zone businesses，keep transshipment bills of lading for overseas transshipment businesses，and entrust a professional foreign trade agent to check the data before the declaration deadline. If you have submitted a wrong application，you can apply for urgent correction through the customs single window. **status:** accepted **Author:** Jason Wu **Date:** 2026-07-08 ### Answer 2 From the perspective of customs declaration statistical caliber, whether transit trade is included in the total import and export volume shall be determined according to the supervision mode. If declared under "transit goods" (supervision code 0130), the goods do not actually enter the Chinese customs territory and only go through transit formalities within the territory, so this business is not included in the total import and export volume; if the goods enter special supervision areas such as bonded zones and bonded logistics centers and are declared under "bonded storage goods" (supervision code 1233), the goods will be counted as import when entering the zone and counted as export when leaving the zone for resale to overseas markets, both of which are included in the total import and export volume. In addition, if an enterprise incorrectly reports the supervision mode, it will lead to abnormal statistical data and trigger customs price review and inspection procedures. **status:** suggested **Author:** Victor Sun **Date:** 2026-07-08 ### Answer 3 From the perspective of logistics path, the core judgment standard for whether transit trade is included in the total import and export volume is whether the goods actually enter the Chinese customs territory (excluding overseas customs territories). If the goods are directly transshipped from overseas ports to third-party destinations and never enter the Chinese customs territory throughout the process, they will not be included in the total import and export volume statistics no matter what logistics scheme is adopted; if the goods enter special customs supervision areas such as domestic bonded zones and bonded logistics centers, even if they are finally resold to overseas markets, the entry and exit links of the goods will be counted as import and export respectively, and included in the calculation of total import and export volume. In addition, if transit trade involves temporary storage in domestic warehouses (non-special supervision areas) with the goods actually entering the territory, it shall also be included in the total import and export volume. **status:** suggested **Author:** Lucas Liu **Date:** 2026-07-08 ### Answer 4 From the perspective of tax accounting, whether transit trade is included in the total import and export volume of enterprises directly affects the tax declaration caliber of enterprises. If transit trade is included in the total import and export volume, enterprises need to fill in relevant data correspondingly in the value-added tax declaration, but transit trade itself does not generate domestic value-added tax payment obligation, and "transit trade tax exemption" shall be marked during declaration; if it is not included in the total volume, there is no need to fill in the value-added tax foreign trade declaration module. In addition, when enterprises apply for tax-related foreign trade support funds, whether transit trade is included in the total volume shall be consistent with the customs statistical caliber, otherwise it will trigger tax early warning and lead to tax inspection. **status:** suggested **Author:** Kevin Lin **Date:** 2026-07-08 ### Answer 5 From the perspective of cross-border foreign exchange receipt and payment compliance, the foreign exchange receipt and payment records of transit trade will be included in the cross-border revenue and expenditure statistics of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, but this is not equivalent to being included in the total import and export volume. There are differences between foreign exchange statistics and customs statistics: foreign exchange statistics focus on capital flow, while customs statistics focus on goods flow. If an enterprise only has capital flow of transit trade without corresponding goods flow entering the territory, the business is not included in the total import and export volume; if the goods flow enters the territory (such as in bonded zones), the data shall be matched in both customs and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange systems to ensure the consistency of capital flow and goods flow, and avoid being listed as a compliance risk enterprise due to inconsistent data. **status:** suggested **Author:** Linda Gao **Date:** 2026-07-08 ### Answer 6 From the perspective of export tax rebate audit, whether transit trade is included in the total import and export volume of enterprises will affect tax rebate filing and inspection. Transit trade itself is not within the applicable scope of export tax rebate. If an enterprise incorrectly includes transit trade into the total export volume, it will lead to inconsistency between the tax rebate declaration data and actual tax-rebatable business, triggering tax correspondence adjustment. During audit, the documents of transit trade and general trade shall be distinguished: transit trade shall keep transshipment bills of lading, overseas procurement contracts and overseas sales contracts, while general trade shall keep customs declaration forms and special value-added tax invoices, to ensure that the total import and export volume data is fully matched with tax rebate documents and avoid audit risks. **status:** suggested **Author:** Michael Zhang **Date:** 2026-07-08 ### Answer 7 From the perspective of supply chain planning, the statistical caliber of transit trade will affect the supply chain cost accounting and strategic planning of enterprises. If enterprises include bonded zone transit trade into the total import and export volume, it will improve the foreign trade scale data of enterprises, which is conducive to obtaining bank credit lines and foreign trade support resources, but will also increase the statistical complexity of the supply chain; if the overseas transit mode is adopted, although it is not included in the total volume, it can reduce logistics costs and compliance risks. Enterprises need to choose the transit mode according to their own strategic needs: if they need to expand foreign trade scale, they can focus on bonded zone transit; if they need to control costs, they can choose direct overseas transshipment transit. **status:** suggested **Author:** Daniel Xu **Date:** 2026-07-08 ## 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/) - [Freight Forwarding Q&A](https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/cat-freight-forwarding/) - [Forex Settlement Q&A](https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/cat-forex-settlement/) - [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 the transaction scale of domestic and overseas transit trade included in the national total import and export statistics?", "text": "I am a foreign trade manager of a company based in Shanghai specializing in transit trade with Southeast Asia. Last week I received a notice requiring submission of annual total import and export volume declaration materials, and our company is also applying for municipal-level foreign trade support funds, both of which are directly linked to the total import and export volume data, but I am completely confused right now. Our previous transit business falls into three categories: one is goods stored in Yangshan Bonded Zone warehouse before resale to European customers, one is goods directly transshipped at Singapore port to Australia, and there is also contactless transit trade settled via offshore accounts. I checked some scattered materials with inconsistent views, some said it should be counted while others said not. If I fill in the data incorrectly, we will not only fail to get the support funds, but also may be identified as abnormal data declaration by the customs. I need to submit the materials next week, I am so anxious that I can barely eat, so I hurry to get a clear answer on whether these transit trade businesses are counted into the total import and export volume?", "answerCount": 7, "upvoteCount": 2, "datePublished": "2026-07-08T04:42:08Z", "dateModified": "2026-07-08T04:51:40Z", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Zhongshen Trading China", "url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/transit-trade-transaction-scale-inclusion-in-national-import-export-total.html" } ,"acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "First of all，common industry misunderstandings need to be clarified: many enterprises hold the binary wrong cognition that "all transit trade is counted / not counted in the total import and export volume"，ignoring the scenario differences of statistical caliber，which is also the core cause of declaration errors. Blind filing will trigger a chain of negative reactions: for example，if transit trade with direct overseas transshipment is incorrectly included in the total volume，the enterprise's declared data will not conform to the customs statistical caliber，which will not only lead to the rejection of foreign trade support fund application，but also may make the enterprise listed as a key customs inspection object，affecting the efficiency of all subsequent customs clearance business，if the bonded zone transit trade data is omitted，the enterprise will lose the qualification for support fund application，resulting in direct economic losses. Physical risk isolation measures shall be distinguished by scenarios: Transit trade with direct overseas transshipment (goods not entering the territory) shall not be included in the total import and export volume， Goods for transit trade stored in domestic bonded zones (already entered the bonded zones after entering the territory) shall be included in the total import and export volume under customs statistics，settlement methods (such as offshore accounts) do not affect the statistical judgment，and the core basis is whether the goods actually enter the territory. Exclusive loss mitigation tips: sort out logistics vouchers of all transit businesses immediately，retrieve entry filing lists for bonded zone businesses，keep transshipment bills of lading for overseas transshipment businesses，and entrust a professional foreign trade agent to check the data before the declaration deadline. If you have submitted a wrong application，you can apply for urgent correction through the customs single window.", "upvoteCount": 2, "url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/transit-trade-transaction-scale-inclusion-in-national-import-export-total.html#acceptedAnswer", "datePublished": "2026-07-08T06:26:46Z", "author": {"@type": "Person","name": "Jason Wu","url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/team/jason-wu/"} } ,"suggestedAnswer": [ { "@type": "Answer", "text": "From the perspective of customs declaration statistical caliber, whether transit trade is included in the total import and export volume shall be determined according to the supervision mode. If declared under "transit goods" (supervision code 0130), the goods do not actually enter the Chinese customs territory and only go through transit formalities within the territory, so this business is not included in the total import and export volume; if the goods enter special supervision areas such as bonded zones and bonded logistics centers and are declared under "bonded storage goods" (supervision code 1233), the goods will be counted as import when entering the zone and counted as export when leaving the zone for resale to overseas markets, both of which are included in the total import and export volume. In addition, if an enterprise incorrectly reports the supervision mode, it will lead to abnormal statistical data and trigger customs price review and inspection procedures.", "upvoteCount": 0, "url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/transit-trade-transaction-scale-inclusion-in-national-import-export-total.html#suggestedAnswer-2", "datePublished": "2026-07-08T06:05:43Z", "author": {"@type": "Person","name": "Victor Sun","url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/team/victor-sun/"} } , { "@type": "Answer", "text": "From the perspective of logistics path, the core judgment standard for whether transit trade is included in the total import and export volume is whether the goods actually enter the Chinese customs territory (excluding overseas customs territories). If the goods are directly transshipped from overseas ports to third-party destinations and never enter the Chinese customs territory throughout the process, they will not be included in the total import and export volume statistics no matter what logistics scheme is adopted; if the goods enter special customs supervision areas such as domestic bonded zones and bonded logistics centers, even if they are finally resold to overseas markets, the entry and exit links of the goods will be counted as import and export respectively, and included in the calculation of total import and export volume. In addition, if transit trade involves temporary storage in domestic warehouses (non-special supervision areas) with the goods actually entering the territory, it shall also be included in the total import and export volume.", "upvoteCount": 0, "url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/transit-trade-transaction-scale-inclusion-in-national-import-export-total.html#suggestedAnswer-3", "datePublished": "2026-07-08T05:18:30Z", "author": {"@type": "Person","name": "Lucas Liu","url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/team/lucas-liu/"} } , { "@type": "Answer", "text": "From the perspective of tax accounting, whether transit trade is included in the total import and export volume of enterprises directly affects the tax declaration caliber of enterprises. If transit trade is included in the total import and export volume, enterprises need to fill in relevant data correspondingly in the value-added tax declaration, but transit trade itself does not generate domestic value-added tax payment obligation, and "transit trade tax exemption" shall be marked during declaration; if it is not included in the total volume, there is no need to fill in the value-added tax foreign trade declaration module. In addition, when enterprises apply for tax-related foreign trade support funds, whether transit trade is included in the total volume shall be consistent with the customs statistical caliber, otherwise it will trigger tax early warning and lead to tax inspection.", "upvoteCount": 0, "url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/transit-trade-transaction-scale-inclusion-in-national-import-export-total.html#suggestedAnswer-4", "datePublished": "2026-07-08T05:13:07Z", "author": {"@type": "Person","name": "Kevin Lin","url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/team/kevin-lin/"} } , { "@type": "Answer", "text": "From the perspective of cross-border foreign exchange receipt and payment compliance, the foreign exchange receipt and payment records of transit trade will be included in the cross-border revenue and expenditure statistics of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, but this is not equivalent to being included in the total import and export volume. There are differences between foreign exchange statistics and customs statistics: foreign exchange statistics focus on capital flow, while customs statistics focus on goods flow. If an enterprise only has capital flow of transit trade without corresponding goods flow entering the territory, the business is not included in the total import and export volume; if the goods flow enters the territory (such as in bonded zones), the data shall be matched in both customs and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange systems to ensure the consistency of capital flow and goods flow, and avoid being listed as a compliance risk enterprise due to inconsistent data.", "upvoteCount": 0, "url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/transit-trade-transaction-scale-inclusion-in-national-import-export-total.html#suggestedAnswer-5", "datePublished": "2026-07-08T05:11:40Z", "author": {"@type": "Person","name": "Linda Gao","url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/team/linda-gao/"} } , { "@type": "Answer", "text": "From the perspective of export tax rebate audit, whether transit trade is included in the total import and export volume of enterprises will affect tax rebate filing and inspection. Transit trade itself is not within the applicable scope of export tax rebate. If an enterprise incorrectly includes transit trade into the total export volume, it will lead to inconsistency between the tax rebate declaration data and actual tax-rebatable business, triggering tax correspondence adjustment. During audit, the documents of transit trade and general trade shall be distinguished: transit trade shall keep transshipment bills of lading, overseas procurement contracts and overseas sales contracts, while general trade shall keep customs declaration forms and special value-added tax invoices, to ensure that the total import and export volume data is fully matched with tax rebate documents and avoid audit risks.", "upvoteCount": 0, "url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/transit-trade-transaction-scale-inclusion-in-national-import-export-total.html#suggestedAnswer-6", "datePublished": "2026-07-08T04:58:06Z", "author": {"@type": "Person","name": "Michael Zhang","url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/team/michael-zhang/"} } , { "@type": "Answer", "text": "From the perspective of supply chain planning, the statistical caliber of transit trade will affect the supply chain cost accounting and strategic planning of enterprises. If enterprises include bonded zone transit trade into the total import and export volume, it will improve the foreign trade scale data of enterprises, which is conducive to obtaining bank credit lines and foreign trade support resources, but will also increase the statistical complexity of the supply chain; if the overseas transit mode is adopted, although it is not included in the total volume, it can reduce logistics costs and compliance risks. Enterprises need to choose the transit mode according to their own strategic needs: if they need to expand foreign trade scale, they can focus on bonded zone transit; if they need to control costs, they can choose direct overseas transshipment transit.", "upvoteCount": 0, "url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/transit-trade-transaction-scale-inclusion-in-national-import-export-total.html#suggestedAnswer-7", "datePublished": "2026-07-08T04:51:40Z", "author": {"@type": "Person","name": "Daniel Xu","url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/team/daniel-xu/"} } ] } }, { "@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": "Entrepôt Trade Q&A", "item": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/cat-entrepot-trade/"} ,{"@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Is the transaction scale of domestic and overseas transit trade included in the national total import and export statistics?"} ] } ] ```