Qingdao Free Trade Zone bonded storage, duty deferral, JIT delivery, WMS/ERP integration
A bonded warehouse is a customs-supervised storage facility where imported goods can be stored without immediately paying import duties and VAT. The goods remain in "bonded status" — customs duties and taxes are only paid when the goods are physically withdrawn from the warehouse for domestic sale in China. Our bonded warehouse is located within the Qingdao Port Free Trade Zone, directly adjacent to the container terminals — minimizing domestic transport costs from vessel to storage.
Goods can remain in bonded status for up to 3 years in our Qingdao FTZ facility. This provides exceptional flexibility: importers can hold inventory close to the Chinese market without committing to duty payments, release goods to domestic customers on demand, or re-export goods to third countries without ever paying Chinese import duties.
The primary benefit is working capital optimization. For example: an importer bringing in $10 million of goods annually, facing 25% combined duty and VAT, would normally pay $2.5 million in duties/VAT at the time of import. With bonded warehousing, those duties are deferred until the goods are actually sold and released to the domestic market — freeing up millions in working capital for other business needs. One of our automotive clients has cumulatively released over ¥50 million in cash flow through our bonded warehouse program.
We integrate with our clients' production planning systems — typically via EDI or API connection. We receive weekly production schedules from each manufacturing plant. Our warehouse team pre-picks, de-containerizes, sorts, labels, and palletizes parts in advance of the delivery window. On the scheduled day, parts are customs-cleared (pre-prepared documentation enables same-day clearance) and delivered: 24 hours to Shandong Province (Qingdao, Jinan, Weifang, Yantai), 48 hours to all major Chinese industrial cities (Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, etc.). We maintain 100% JIT delivery accuracy — no production line has ever been stopped due to our delivery.
Yes. Our WMS (Warehouse Management System) is integrated with client ERP systems. Authorized users can view real-time inventory quantities, inbound/outbound records, and in-transit delivery status for every SKU in the bonded warehouse — from anywhere in the world, 24/7. No emailing spreadsheets. No manual reconciliation. The overseas headquarters sees exactly the same inventory data as the Qingdao warehouse team.
We handle all customs procedures on behalf of our clients: (1) Bonded warehouse entry declaration — filed when the container arrives at Qingdao Port and enters the FTZ. (2) Bonded inventory registration — each SKU is registered in the customs bonded inventory system. (3) Domestic release declaration — filed when goods are withdrawn for delivery to a Chinese customer; this is when duties and VAT are calculated and paid. (4) Re-export declaration — filed when goods are shipped to a third country without entering the Chinese domestic market. All documentation is prepared and submitted by our in-house customs team.
Most goods can be stored, including: industrial components (automotive parts, machinery, electronics), raw materials, consumer goods, and DG cargo (subject to warehouse DG storage approval — our facility has DG-rated storage zones). The main restrictions are on goods prohibited from import into China (which cannot enter even bonded status) and goods requiring special licenses that must be obtained before bonded entry. We advise on goods eligibility during the onboarding process.