What is 1210 cross-border e-commerce bonded import?
1210 is the Chinese customs code for cross-border e-commerce bonded import. Stock waits untaxed in a bonded warehouse inside a special customs area and ships one consumer order at a time. Orders within a per-order and an annual limit are taxed more lightly than general trade. It skips first-import registration but sells only to consumers.
The number is a customs supervision code, and it is how the route is named in China: online-shopping bonded import (网购保税进口). Its sibling, 9610, is direct purchase, with each order shipped from abroad. Both are regulated the same way. 1210 is the one that puts your stock inside China before anyone has ordered it.
Where does the 1210 code come from?
From a customs announcement of 30 July 2014, which added supervision code 1210 under the full name bonded cross-border trade e-commerce (保税跨境贸易电子商务) and the short name bonded e-commerce (保税电商). For imports it is confined to special customs supervision areas and Type B bonded logistics centres approved for cross-border e-commerce import (GACC Announcement 2014 No. 57).1 That is why the stock has to sit in a zone: the code does not exist outside one.
How does 1210 bonded import work?
- Stock is shipped in bulk into a bonded warehouse inside a special customs area. It is not taxed on arrival.
- A consumer in China orders through a cross-border platform connected to customs.
- The order, the payment and the logistics record are matched electronically, and that single order is declared and released from the zone.
- Tax is calculated on that order. The consumer is the taxpayer; the e-commerce company, the platform or the logistics company collects it.2
What are the tax rates and limits?
| Rule | What it says | Set by |
|---|---|---|
| Tax | 0% tariff. Import VAT and consumption tax at 70% of the amount otherwise due; for a good at the standard 13% VAT rate with no consumption tax, that is 9.1% | 2016 tax notice (财关税〔2016〕18号); VAT Law, Article 102,3 |
| Limits | RMB 5,000 per order and RMB 26,000 per person per year | 2018 tax notice (财关税〔2018〕49号)4 |
| Over the order limit | A single-item order above RMB 5,000 but inside the annual limit can still use the channel, at full general-trade tax | 2018 tax notice (财关税〔2018〕49号)4 |
| Registration | Regulated as goods for personal use, so first-import licences, registrations and filings do not apply, except for goods from epidemic areas whose import is suspended, or during a response to a major safety risk | MOFCOM notice (商财发〔2018〕486号), Article 35 |
| Which goods | Only those on the Cross-border E-commerce Retail Import Commodity List, as adjusted from 1 March 2022 | MOF and seven departments6 |
| Labels | Goods may carry no Chinese label; the platform displays a Chinese electronic label | MOFCOM notice (商财发〔2018〕486号), Article 45 |
| Your party in China | A company registered in China, appointed by you, which registers with customs, is responsible for truthful declaration and bears joint civil liability | MOFCOM notice (商财发〔2018〕486号), Article 45 |
What can 1210 not do?
- Supply a business. Goods bought through it are the consumer’s final goods for personal use and may not be resold.5 A distributor or retailer needs general trade.
- Sell off a shelf outside the zone. “Bonded plus offline pick-up” is not, in principle, permitted outside a special customs area.5
- Carry goods that are not on the list. Anything off the list goes through general trade, with the registration that route requires.6
- Turn into general-trade stock when a countermeasure applies. Cross-border e-commerce goods subject to trade-remedy measures, retaliatory tariffs, tariff quotas or suspended concessions may not be transferred into ordinary accounts (Announcement No. 83 of 2025, in force 10 June 2025).7
The route removes Chinese product registration. It does not remove the platform’s own onboarding: the overseas corporate records, trademark and production evidence a platform asks of a foreign brand are a separate hurdle, with their own grounds for refusal.
How this route compares with general trade, and with bonded storage that is not e-commerce, is set out in selling into China through a bonded zone; how long stock can stay in the warehouse is in how long goods can stay in a Chinese bonded warehouse.
Want this done rather than explained? Market Entry & Structure Advisory From US$900, 2–3 weeks. See the service Sources
- GACC Announcement 2014 No. 57, adding customs supervision code 1210, 30 July 2014 (Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce copy, retrieved 22 September 2026)
- MOF, GACC and STA, cross-border e-commerce retail import tax policy (财关税〔2016〕18号): 0% tariff, VAT and consumption tax at 70%, the buyer as taxpayer; in force 8 April 2016 (retrieved 22 September 2026)
- Value-Added Tax Law of the PRC, in force 1 January 2026: Article 10, the 13% rate (State Taxation Administration policy library, retrieved 22 September 2026)
- MOF, GACC and STA: limits raised to RMB 5,000 per order and 26,000 per year, and the single-item rule (财关税〔2018〕49号); in force 1 January 2019 (retrieved 22 September 2026)
- MOFCOM and five departments, cross-border e-commerce retail import supervision (商财发〔2018〕486号), in force 1 January 2019: Articles 3, 4 and 5 (retrieved 22 September 2026)
- MOF and seven departments: adjustment of the Cross-border E-commerce Retail Import Commodity List, in force 1 March 2022
- GACC, NDRC, MOF, MARA, MOFCOM and STA Announcement No. 83 of 2025, in force 10 June 2025: countermeasure goods in bonded areas and e-commerce accounts (Shanghai tax bureau copy, retrieved 22 September 2026)
All sources checked 22 September 2026. This page is general information, not legal, tax or customs advice. Requirements vary by product, market and circumstance. Confirm your own position before acting.
