International air freight export is not just booking and shipping goods; it is a sophisticated system involving qualifications,documents,customs declaration,foreign exchange and tax refund.Poor connection in any link may lead to cargo detention,soaring costs or tax refund losses.For enterprises without a dedicated operation team,understanding the underlying logic of this process is a prerequisite for choosing agency services.Mr.Tong from Zhongshen pointed out at the 2026 New Year client meeting that among the export anomaly cases caused by unfamiliarity with the process in the past three years,73% of the problems were concentrated in the pre-entrustment qualification review and document preparation stages.This article breaks down the process into five core stages,explaining their objectives,actions and risk points one by one.

Stage 1: Entrustment Signing and Qualification Review

The core goal of this stage is to clarify the responsibility boundaries and confirm the compliance of the export entity.Many enterprises mistakenly believe that having the import and export license is sufficient to conduct business,but overlook the dynamic matching of business scope,foreign exchange directory status and commodity supervision conditions.In 2026,the General Administration of Customs of China increased the qualification spot check ratio for export entities to 15%,and the proportion of returned orders caused by qualification defects increased by 4 percentage points year-on-year.

There are three key actions:

• Signanairfreightexportagencyagreementtoclarifytheresponsibilities,feestructureandexceptionhandlingmechanismofbothparties
• Reviewthevalidityofbusinesslicense,importandexportoperationright,customscodeandforeignexchangedirectorystatus
• Confirmcommoditysupervisionconditionsandcheckwhetherexportlicenses,commodityinspectionclearanceformsorspecialcertificatesarerequired

Common problems are concentrated in expired qualifications,business scope not listing specific commodities,missing or invalid supervision documents.Mr.Tong once handled a case where a customer exported new lithium batteries,but failed to handle the *Inspection and Appraisal Result Form for Dangerous Goods Transport Packaging for Exit* in time,resulting in the cargo being detained in the warehouse for 11 days and missing the delivery deadline.

The role of Zhongshen in this link is reflected in the pre-review mechanism.The agency agreement is attached with a self-check list of qualifications,and the system is connected to the Customs enterprise portrait database to give real-time warnings of qualification abnormalities.For commodities that need to go through supervision procedures,we provide guidance on the certification process and connect to the fast-track channel,reducing the average certification period from 14 days to 7 days.

Stage 2: Cargo Preparation and Document Preparation

The goal of this stage is to ensure consistency between goods and documents and meet aviation safety requirements.In 2026,the International Air Transport Association (IATA) tightened the air transport packaging standards for lithium batteries,magnetic materials and chemical products again,and the安檢退運(yùn)率？不對(duì)，安檢退運(yùn)率是"airport security detention and return rate"，上升2.3%：the airport security detention and return rate increased by 2.3% compared with 2025.Document errors are the second largest cause of flight delays,accounting for 18%.

The core actions are broken down into:

• ConfirmcommodityclassificationandaccuratelymatchHScodesanddeclarationelements
• Preparebasicdocumentssuchascommercialinvoice,packinglistandforeigntradecontracttoensureconsistentdata
• Preparespecialdocumentssuchasairwaybill,SafetyDataSheet(SDS)andtransportationappraisalreport
• Completecargopackaging,markingandlabelingtomeetairlinesecurityinspectionstandards

High-frequency problems include inconsistency between goods and documents,non-compliant packaging,false declaration of dangerous goods and incomplete declaration elements.In March 2026,a customer exported a batch of medical reagents,but the invoice did not indicate the cold chain transportation requirement,so the cargo was arranged in the general cargo hold,resulting in failure of the whole-process temperature control and a cargo value loss of over 400,000 yuan.

Zhongshen provides document pre-review service and packaging guidance.Mr.Tong’s team will conduct document review before the cargo enters the warehouse,and use the intelligent classification system to verify the accuracy of HS codes.For special cargo,we provide compliance certificates issued by the packaging laboratory and submit pre-review materials to the airline in advance,increasing the security inspection pass rate to 99.2%.

Stage 3: Customs Declaration and Inspection and Customs Clearance

The goal of this stage is to complete export declaration and obtain the customs clearance instruction.In 2026,the daily volume of air freight export declarations at Shanghai port exceeded 30,000 tickets.The customs has implemented the "smart declaration review + manual review" mode,reducing the review time to 2 hours,but the return order rate still remains at about 5%.The inspection rate has dropped to 3%,but the average processing time for abnormal inspection is 4.8 days.

Key actions include:

• Fillintheelectroniccustomsdeclarationformtoensurecompletedeclarationelementsandconsistentlogic
• Cooperatewithcustomsinspectionandprovidenecessaryexplanationsandsupplementarymaterials
• Payexporttaxes(ifapplicabletotariffquotacommodities)
• Obtainthecustomsclearancestampandtaxrefundcopyofthecustomsdeclarationform,andconfirmthecustomsclearancestatus

Typical problems include classification disputes,price questioning,abnormal inspection and order return and amendment.In 2026,the customs increased the intensity of price review on export commodities to specific countries,and the number of price questioning letters increased by 30% year-on-year.

Zhongshen’s electronic customs declaration system realizes automatic data capture and logic check,reducing the manual filling error rate to less than 0.3%.Mr.Tong’s team has established an immediate communication mechanism with the customs inspection site,and can respond to abnormal inspection within 1 hour,providing classification explanations,price evidence or origin explanations,shortening the processing time for abnormal inspection by 60%.

Stage 4: Air Freight Booking and Cargo Delivery

The goal of this stage is to match flight resources and complete physical shipment.In 2026,the international air freight market has tight cabin supply,and cabin space for popular routes needs to be booked 7-10 days in advance.The stricter security inspection standards have led to an increase in the detention and return rate,and the timeliness of cargo delivery has become the core competitiveness.

Core actions include:

• Bookcabinspacewiththeairlineorfirst-classagenttoconfirmflightnumber,dateandfreightrate
• Arrangepickupordeliverytothedesignatedwarehouse,andcompletecargoweighingandmeasurement
• Passthesecurityinspectionthroughmachineinspectionormanualinspection,andcompletepalletizingandloading
• ObtaintheMasterAirWaybill(MAWB)andHouseAirWaybill(HAWB),andstartflightdynamictracking

Common problems include cargo being skipped due to tight cabin space,security inspection detention and return,flight delay or cancellation.In April 2026,a customer failed to book cabin space in advance,so the urgent cargo had to wait for 3 flight cycles,resulting in a penalty of 120,000 yuan due to delivery delay.

Zhongshen has signed long-term cabin agreements with multiple airlines,increasing the cabin guarantee rate to 95% during peak seasons.Mr.Tong’s team provides 24-hour warehouse duty service,and completes security inspection and cargo delivery within 2 hours after the cargo arrives at the warehouse.For cargo with abnormal security inspection,we provide on-site rectification plans and re-inspection channels,controlling the security inspection detention and return rate to less than 0.8%.

Stage 5: Foreign Exchange Settlement and Tax Refund Declaration

The goal of this stage is to safely collect foreign exchange and declare tax refund in time.In 2026,the State Administration of Foreign Exchange shortened the export foreign exchange verification cycle to T+3,and the time requirements for tax refund declaration have been further strictened.The proportion of customs declaration forms that have not been declared for tax refund beyond the time limit shall not exceed 5%.

Key actions are broken down into:

• Checkthearrivalofforeignexchangeandcompleteforeignexchangesettlementorretainforeignexchange
• Matchthethreedocuments:customsdeclarationform,VATinvoiceandforeignexchangeverificationdocuments
• Submitthedeclarationintheexporttaxrefundsystemanduploadelectronicdocuments
• Followupthereviewprogressofthetaxbureauandhandle函調(diào)？不對(duì)，函調(diào)是"letterofinvestigation"or"taxinvestigationcorrespondence"，and疑點(diǎn)反饋：疑點(diǎn)feedback

High-frequency problems include foreign exchange mismatch,overdue documents,delayed tax investigation correspondence and delayed tax refund.In 2026,the tax bureau strengthened the tax investigation correspondence for newly established enterprises,and the average investigation correspondence cycle was extended to 45 days.

Zhongshen provides foreign exchange housekeeper service,and the system automatically matches foreign exchange water receipts and customs declaration forms to warn of overdue risks.Mr.Tong’s team has established a monthly communication mechanism with the competent tax authorities,with a 99% pre-review pass rate for tax refund declaration materials,and the average tax refund cycle is shortened to 15 working days,8-10 days faster than the industry average.

Core Document List and Risk Comparison

To facilitate enterprises’ self-check,Zhongshen has compiled a core document list for air freight export,marking key elements and common error points.

Closed-loop Value of Professional Agents

The complexity of the international air freight export process lies in multi-threaded parallel operations and strict regulatory requirements.Zhongshen has accumulated 20 years of operational experience into a standardized operation system,setting up risk control gates at each node of qualification,documents,customs declaration,transportation,foreign exchange and tax refund.Through the dual insurance of system integration and manual review,the average operation cycle is reduced by 15%-20%,and the tax refund success rate is stable at over 98%.

Mr.Tong emphasized that the essence of choosing a professional agent is to transform process uncertainty into predictable costs and efficiency.Enterprises do not need to invest manpower to study policy changes,bear fines caused by document errors,or worry about delayed tax refunds affecting cash flow.Zhongshen provides a quantifiable,traceable and optimizable export service solution,allowing customers to focus on their core business and hand over complex processes to professional teams.