2025New market trends

According to the latest statistics from the General Administration of Customs,the total value of machinery and equipment imports in the first half of 2025 increased by 17.3% year-on-year,with the proportion of smart manufacturing equipment exceeding 42%.While import volumes continued to rise,the number of cases of incorrect classification and declaration seized by customs inspection departments increased by 24% year-on-year,and the average detention time of individual shipments in ports extended to 8.7 days.

Analysis of Key Nodes in the Entire Customs Clearance Process

The typical equipment import process consists of the following six stages:

• Pre-declarationpreparationphase
  • HSCodePre-classificationConfirmation(TechnicalParametersofEquipmentRequired)
  • VerificationofImportLicense/CCCCertificationDocuments
• Port arrival declaration phase
  • ConsistencyCheckBetweenBillofLadingandPackingListData
  • OnlineFilingoftheImportApplicationFormforElectromechanicalProducts
• Customs inspection phase
  • VerificationofIPPCMarkonWoodenPackaging
  • Checktheconsistencybetweentheequipmentnameplateparametersandthedeclaredspecifications.

Key Points of Risk Prevention and Control in Practical Operations

When a certain semiconductor company imported a lithography machine in March 2025,it failed to handle the necessary procedures in a timely manner.Filing for tax incentives on major technical equipment imports,resulting in overpayment of customs duties and value-added tax totaling RMB 3.87 million.This case reveals three core risk points:

• Misjudgmentofeligibilityfortariffpreferentialpolicies
• Errorinreportingthesplitofequipmentfunctionalmodules
• Theevaluationcriteriaforresidualvalueofoldandnewequipmentareconfused.

Strategies for Improving Customs Clearance Efficiency

Professional agency service providers can reduce customs clearance time by 40% through the following methods:

• Establishanequipmentparameterdatabase(includingHScodecross-referencefor3000+items)
• Thepre-reviewsystemautomaticallyverifiesthecompletenessofdeclarationelements.
• Thelinkagedeclarationmechanismbetweenlocalcustomsandportcustoms

Criteria for Verification of Agency Service Provider Qualifications

When selecting a customs declaration agent,the following aspects should be prioritized for verification:

• CustomsAEOcertificationlevel(itisrecommendedtochoosetheAdvancedCertifiedEnterprise)
• ProfessionalEquipmentImportCaseDatabaseScale(Recommended500+SuccessfulCases)
• Theproportionofteammemberswithmechanicalandelectricalprofessionalbackgroundsinthecustomsaffairsteam(recommendedtobenolessthan60%).