On June 5th, at the Shanghai Shipping Cross-border E-commerce Operation Center in Waigaoqiao Zhendong Terminal, a shipment of handheld mini fans valued at 18,000 yuan was successfully dispatched overseas aboard the vessel "Matson Maui" under the supervision and facilitation of Shanghai Waigaoqiao Port Area Customs, a unit of Shanghai Customs. Leveraging the innovative "Master Bill + Less than Container Load (LCL)" customs supervision model, these fragmented cross-border e-commerce goods were able to be loaded and shipped directly alongside other general trade export goods in a fully loaded container.
Traditionally, ocean freight exports operate on a "full container" basis, lacking an LCL model suited for the "fragmented" orders typical of cross-border e-commerce. Small and micro enterprises with small-batch, multi-frequency orders often face a dilemma where they cannot balance cost and efficiency, making "difficulty in securing LCL space" a major bottleneck for e-commerce companies expanding overseas. "To address this challenge, we innovated our supervision method by combining the master bill operation mode with the LCL model. Through trial and adjustment, we gradually developed a set of innovative supervision measures known as the 'Master Bill + LCL' model," explained Zhang Long, Section Chief of the Second Inspection Division at Waigaoqiao Port Area Customs. "The 'Master Bill' refers to cross-border e-commerce goods regulated under the bill of lading as the unit. These 'small-batch' goods can catch a 'ride' by being consolidated with the most common general trade export goods for LCL export. Once released by customs supervision, the goods can be directly loaded onto the vessel for shipment, fully leveraging the advantages of cross-border e-commerce logistics chains in terms of timeliness and flexibility."
"In the past, for small-batch, multi-frequency cross-border e-commerce orders, it took a long wait to accumulate enough for a full container, making it difficult to meet the timeliness requirements for cross-border e-commerce goods," said Yang Chengwu, General Manager of Youlianda Trade (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., unable to conceal his excitement while looking at the fully loaded container. "Now, even goods occupying just a few cubic meters can be shipped by sea at any time, and logistics costs have been directly reduced by 30%! This 'consolidating fragments into a whole' LCL model has significantly accelerated our overseas expansion speed and saved our company a substantial amount on transportation expenses."
Logistics enterprises are also benefiting from the policy dividends of this new model. Liu Hongfeng, Chairman of Shanghai Limeng International Logistics Co., Ltd., stated, "Previously, cross-border e-commerce cargo consolidation was a matter of 'containers waiting for goods.' Now, customs has broken down the barriers between cross-border e-commerce and general trade goods, turning it into 'goods waiting for containers.' Consolidated LCL cargo can undergo a single inspection and a single release at the operation center, which is both efficient and convenient. After implementing the new model, the cargo consolidation time for logistics enterprises has been shortened by 50%, saving an average of about 4,000 yuan per standard container in logistics and time costs."
The "Master Bill + LCL" model not only unleashes the foreign trade potential of small and micro enterprises but also, through efficient logistics supply, inversely attracts cargo sources from major e-commerce platforms like Amazon to 'siphon' and gather at the Shanghai port. This is driving the development of Shanghai's port as a crucial logistics channel for ocean freight cross-border e-commerce LCL business, handling over a thousand tons of goods daily. It encompasses a vast range of product categories including apparel and accessories, daily necessities, home furnishings, and furniture, providing global consumers with richer choices.
At the tax policy level, supportive policies for cross-border e-commerce exports continue to be strengthened. In February this year, the "Announcement on Preferential Tax Policies for Cross-border E-commerce Export Returned Goods" was issued, clarifying that eligible returned cross-border e-commerce export goods can continue to enjoy relevant tax benefits concerning import tariffs, import value-added tax, and consumption tax upon re-entry. The General Administration of Customs Tax Collection and Administration Bureau (Shanghai) is promoting the implementation of related policies, relieving e-commerce enterprises of concerns about exports. Since the beginning of this year, returned e-commerce goods enjoying preferential tax policies at the Shanghai port have amounted to 4.263 million yuan. In the first five months of this year, Shanghai Customs has supervised over 5.2 million packages of cross-border e-commerce ocean freight export goods with a total value exceeding 5.8 billion yuan, already surpassing the total value for the entire previous year.
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