The Mainland of China has been proactive in establishing Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and Preferential Trade Agreements with different countries and regions in recent years. It is stipulated in the FTAs and Preferential Trade Agreements that consignments routed through a third place can also be regarded as direct consignments/transport and are qualified to apply for tariff reduction under certain circumstances, in particular, if they remain under the control of Customs or designated authorities in the third place.

To further enrich the facilitation services provided under the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) and to facilitate more transhipment cargo in Hong Kong to be qualified for preferential tariff, the Customs and Excise Department (C&ED) has launched the Free Trade Agreement Transhipment Facilitation Scheme (FTA Scheme) on 20 December 2015. This voluntary scheme provides traders with Customs supervision service and issues "Certificate of Non-manipulation" to certify transhipment cargo that have not been undergone any further processing during their stay in Hong Kong.

Useful Information

Free Trade Agreement Transhipment Facilitation Scheme (FTA Scheme) Briefing Notes
Free Trade Agreement Transhipment Facilitation Scheme (FTA Scheme) Leaflet

For related announcement by the Mainland Customs, please refer to the following website :

http://www.customs.gov.cn/customs/302249/302266/302267/630727/index.html

For related announcement by the China Free Trade Agreement Network by the Mainland Ministry of Commerce:

http://fta.mofcom.gov.cn/
http://tga.mofcom.gov.cn/

For related information provided by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australian, please refer to the following website:

https://www.dfat.gov.au/trade/agreements/in-force/chafta/doing-business-with-china/chafta-frequently-asked-questions