- A Comprehensive Bonded Zone is a fenced, customs-supervised enclave where imported goods stay duty- and VAT-deferred until they leave for the domestic market.
综合保税区是封闭式海关监管区域，境外货物入区后关税与进口环节增值税暂缓缴纳，直至销往国内市场时才完税。- CBZs consolidate twelve statutory functions—processing, R&D, storage, transit, display, cross-border e-commerce and more—under one bonded roof.
综合保税区在单一保税框架内集成十二项法定功能，涵盖加工、研发、仓储、中转、展示、跨境电商等。- The “both ends abroad” processing model lets foreign firms import materials tariff-free, manufacture, and re-export without ever triggering Chinese import tax.
“两端在外”加工贸易模式允许企业免税进口料件、加工后复出口，全程不触发中国进口税。- The VAT general-taxpayer pilot lets a CBZ company hold one entity that serves both domestic and overseas markets, issuing domestic VAT invoices while keeping bonded status.
增值税一般纳税人试点使区内企业”一个主体、两个市场”，既可开国内增值税专票内销，又保留保税身份开展国际业务。- The April 2026 State Council measures added 24 reform steps—bonded repair, bonded testing, re-manufacturing, cross-border e-commerce returns and easier domestic sales.
2026年4月国务院转发的24条措施新增保税维修、保税检测、再制造、跨境电商退货及便利内销等改革举措。- CBZs usually sit inside or next to Free Trade Zones but are a distinct customs-special-regulation tool focused on in-zone physical operations.
综合保税区多位于自贸区内或毗邻自贸区，但属于独立的海关特殊监管工具，侧重区内实体运作。- For an MNC, a CBZ can serve as a regional distribution center that consolidates Asian inventory, defers tax, and feeds both China and export markets.
对跨国公司而言，综合保税区可成为区域配送中心，整合亚洲库存、延迟纳税，同时供应中国及出口市场。
Comprehensive Bonded Zones (CBZ): Building Bonded Supply Chains, Deferred Tax and a Global Distribution Hub | 综合保税区（CBZ）：构建保税供应链、延迟纳税与全球配送中心
Overview
A Comprehensive Bonded Zone (CBZ, 综合保税区) is a fenced, closed customs-special-regulation area operated under the General Administration of Customs (GACC). Goods entering from abroad are placed under bond—import duties and import-stage VAT are suspended rather than paid upfront. Tax is triggered only when goods leave the zone for the Chinese domestic market; if they are re-exported, no Chinese import tax is due at all.
China now operates 168 comprehensive bonded zones spanning all 31 provincial-level regions. In 2025 the CBZ network handled 7.2 trillion yuan of imports and exports, up 8.2% year on year and equal to 15.9% of the national total. In the first five months of 2026 the zones traded 3.5 trillion yuan, a 27.1% increase that lifted their national share to 16.9%. In other words, an area amounting to a tiny fraction of the country’s land mass carries roughly one sixth of national foreign trade—a uniquely concentrated policy platform for foreign-invested supply chains.
What a CBZ does
The Customs regulation (GACC Order No. 256, in force since 1 April 2022) lists twelve businesses a zone enterprise may lawfully run: R&D, processing, manufacturing and re-manufacturing; testing and repair; goods storage; logistics distribution; financial leasing; cross-border e-commerce; commodity display; international entrepôt trade; international transit; port operations; and bonded futures delivery, plus other state-permitted activities.
Underlying these is a five-keyword policy stack: 保税 (bonded suspension of duty/VAT on inbound goods), 免税 (duty- and tax-free import of production equipment and infrastructure materials, and VAT/excise exemptions on inter-enterprise transactions inside the zone), 退税 (domestic materials sent into the zone are treated as exported and refunded immediately), 免证 (no import/export quota or licence requirements on goods moving between the zone and abroad, subject to treaty exceptions), and 选择性征收 (selective tariff collection, letting an enterprise choose whether to pay duty on imported components or on the finished product when selling into China).
Bonded processing model
The signature use is the “both ends abroad” (两端在外) processing trade: raw materials and components are imported bonded, processed or assembled inside the zone, and the finished goods are exported again. Because the inputs never clear Chinese customs for domestic consumption, no import duty or VAT is paid, and export rebates apply.
When a finished product is instead sold into the Chinese market, the enterprise may apply selective tariff collection—paying duty either on the corresponding imported components (with deferred-duty interest made up) or on the finished goods’ inspection status—so it can optimise the tariff base against its actual cost structure. This flexibility is the practical reason many contract manufacturers and electronics or auto-parts suppliers choose a CBZ footprint.
Bonded R&D and warehousing
Beyond processing, a CBZ supports high-value, low-footprint activities. Bonded R&D lets imported laboratory equipment and devices enter duty- and tax-free; the Zhongguancun CBZ, China’s first R&D-themed zone, devotes about 90% of its 940,000 m² to experimental research and reports roughly 20% aggregate duty savings. Bonded warehousing and logistics distribution turn the zone into a regional inventory buffer; cross-border e-commerce, commodity display and bonded training round out the “bonded +” toolkit.
The 2026 measures deepen this: biomedical R&D firms outside the zone can be assigned a CBZ customs code so their imported research inputs are licence-free and bond-supervised; consumed testing materials can be written off against actual usage. For a foreign R&D centre, this removes the working-capital drag of prepaid import tax.
International transit and consolidation
A CBZ is also a physical hub for international transit (国际中转), entrepôt trade (国际转口贸易) and logistics consolidation. Goods from multiple Asian suppliers can be gathered in the zone, sorted, repackaged and re-exported without touching Chinese import tax. Port operations and bonded futures delivery add depth. Paired with an air-side forward station or a China–Europe rail consolidation point (both encouraged by the 2026 measures), the zone becomes a genuine regional distribution centre feeding both China and third-country markets from one bonded inventory.
VAT general-taxpayer pilot
The hardest legacy constraint was that a CBZ enterprise was effectively treated as “offshore”: it could not issue domestic VAT invoices, so selling into China meant routing through an import declaration and forgoing input-VAT credits on local purchases. The VAT general-taxpayer pilot (State Taxation Administration, Ministry of Finance and GACC Announcement No. 29, 2019, now covering all CBZs) removes that wall.
A qualified enterprise voluntarily applies and, once approved, becomes a pilot taxpayer. It may then issue VAT special invoices on domestic sales while keeping its bonded status for imports—in effect one legal entity serving two markets. It can also obtain VAT input credits on purchases from outside the zone and apply export rebates on qualifying outbound sales. In early 2026 the Yangling CBZ (China’s first agriculture-themed zone) was approved for the pilot, letting its firms “step with one foot in both zones” and run integrated domestic-and-foreign trade. The pilot is the single most important lever for an MNC that wants to use a CBZ as both a manufacturing base and a China sales platform.
2026 policy support
On 14 April 2026 the State Council General Office forwarded GACC’s “Several Measures to Promote the Capacity Upgrade and Quality Improvement of Comprehensive Bonded Zones” (Guoban Han [2026] No. 40), adding 24 reform steps across four fronts: (1) upgrading new formats—bonded repair, bonded testing, expanded re-manufacturing, cross-border e-commerce returns consolidated with in-zone goods, bonded training; (2) supply-chain resilience—bulk-commodity storage, off-site supervision of major equipment, differentiated conformity assessment for critical tech; (3) domestic-foreign trade integration—zone-port linkage, easier export-to-domestic sales (reduced CCC certification cost, accepted international assessment results), convenient outbound of controlled substances and approved drugs/veterinary products; and (4) smart, coordinated supervision—information sharing and stronger joint incentives for compliant firms. Notably, domestically made export products and their parts may now re-enter the zone for repair or testing free of the bonded-repair catalogue and the banned-used-machinery list, vastly widening the addressable after-sales business for foreign brands.
Practical setup steps
- Select a zone aligned with your product and logistics—R&D-heavy players look at Zhongguancun, agriculture at Yangling, aviation at Zhengzhou or Xixian, and so on.
- Incorporate a legal entity in the zone and obtain market-registry status; food producers need a domestic production licence.
- Complete customs registration or record-filing and set up the electronic ledger (电子账册) the customs system requires.
- If you will sell into China, apply for the VAT general-taxpayer pilot with the local tax authority and customs under the joint mechanism.
- Plan the bonded flow: inbound quota and licence exemptions, centralised declaration (“分送集报”, on a quarterly basis), and selective-tariff elections for any domestic sales.
- Use zone-to-zone bonded transfers and entrepôt consolidation to build a regional distribution hub, and keep inter-enterprise in-zone transactions VAT- and excise-free.
Related reading
- GACC Order No. 256, “Measures for the Customs Administration of Comprehensive Bonded Zones”—the statutory rulebook for in-zone operations.
- State Taxation Administration, Ministry of Finance and GACC Announcement No. 29 (2019) on the VAT general-taxpayer pilot.
- Guoban Han [2026] No. 40, the 24-step capacity-upgrade measures for CBZs.
- Companion topics in this series: off-zone bonded testing, in-zone and cross-border bonded maintenance, and the Free Trade Zone bonded-logistics handbook.
综合保税区（CBZ）：构建保税供应链、延迟纳税与全球配送中心
概述
综合保税区（Comprehensive Bonded Zone，简称 CBZ）是海关总署主管下实行封闭管理的海关特殊监管区域。境外货物入区即处于保税状态——进口关税与进口环节增值税暂缓缴纳，而非先行完税。只有当货物出区销往中国国内市场时才触发纳税；若直接复出口，则完全不征收中国进口税。
目前全国已设立 168 个综合保税区，覆盖全部 31 个省级行政区。2025 年，综合保税区实现进出口值 7.2 万亿元，同比增长 8.2%，占全国进出口总值的 15.9%；2026 年前 5 个月实现进出口值 3.5 万亿元，同比增长 27.1%，占全国比重升至 16.9%。换言之，以不到全国十万分之五的国土面积，综保区承载了约六分之一的外贸进出口，是外资企业布局供应链得天独厚的政策平台。
综合保税区能做什么
《中华人民共和国海关综合保税区管理办法》（海关总署令第 256 号，2022 年 4 月 1 日起施行）明确区内企业可依法开展十二类业务：研发、加工、制造、再制造；检测、维修；货物存储；物流分拨；融资租赁；跨境电商；商品展示；国际转口贸易；国际中转；港口作业；期货保税交割，以及国家规定可在区内开展的其他业务。
支撑这些业务的，是”保税、免税、退税、免证、选择性征收”五大核心政策：保税，指境外货物入区暂缓缴纳进口税费；免税，涵盖区内生产所需进口设备与基建物资免征关税及进口环节税，以及区内企业间交易免征增值税与消费税；退税，指国内原材料、零部件运入综保区即视同出口，可即时办理退税；免证，指除法定例外，与境外之间进出货物不实行配额、许可证件管理；选择性征收，指区内成品内销时企业可自主选择按对应进口料件或按成品报验状态缴纳关税，从而优化税负。
保税加工模式
综保区的标志性用法是”两端在外”加工贸易：进口料件保税进入，在区内加工或组装，成品再次出口。由于料件从未以国内消费为目的清关，故不缴进口关税与增值税，并可享受出口退税。
当成品转而销往中国市场时，企业可适用选择性征收——既可按对应进口料件缴纳关税（补缴缓税利息），也可按成品报验状态缴纳，从而依据实际成本结构优化税基。正是这种灵活性，使众多合同制造商以及电子、汽车零部件供应商选择落户综保区。
保税研发与仓储
除加工外，综保区还承载高附加值、低占地的活动。保税研发使进口实验设备、装置免税免增值税进区；中关村综保区作为全国首个以研发创新为特色的综保区，约 94 万平方米建筑规模中 90% 用于实验研发，综合税率减免约 20%。保税仓储与物流分拨将园区转化为区域库存缓冲池；跨境电商、商品展示、保税培训则共同构成”保税+”工具箱。
2026 年新政进一步加深这一路径：符合条件的区外生物医药研发企业可获赋综保区海关注册编码，其自境外进口的研发料件免于提交许可证件并实施保税监管；检测耗用材料可按实际耗用核销。对境外研发中心而言，这消除了预付进口税带来的营运资金占用。
国际中转与集拼
综保区同时也是国际中转、转口贸易与物流集拼的实体枢纽。来自多个亚洲供应商的货物可集聚区内，分拣、重新包装后复出口，全程不触及中国进口税。港口作业与期货保税交割进一步丰富功能。配合区内航空前置货站或中欧班列集结中心（均为 2026 年新政鼓励方向），园区可成为真正的区域配送中心，以单一保税库存同时供应中国与第三国市场。
增值税一般纳税人试点
此前的突出约束是，综保区内企业实质上被视为”境外企业”：无法开具国内增值税专票，内销须走进口报关流程，且无法抵扣国内采购的进项增值税。增值税一般纳税人试点（国家税务总局、财政部、海关总署 2019 年第 29 号公告，现已覆盖全部综保区）打破了这堵墙。
符合条件的企业自愿申请，获批后即成为试点企业。它可在保留进口保税身份的同时，就国内销售开具增值税专用发票——实质上”一个主体、两个市场”。它还能就区外采购取得增值税进项抵扣，并对符合条件的 outbound 销售申请出口退税。2026 年初，全国首个农业特色综保区杨凌综保区获批试点，使区内企业得以”一脚跨两区”、开展内外贸一体化运营。对希望把综保区同时作为制造基地与中国销售平台的跨国公司而言，该试点是最关键的杠杆。
2026 年政策支持
2026 年 4 月 14 日，国务院办公厅转发海关总署《关于促进综合保税区扩能提质的若干措施》（国办函〔2026〕40 号），从四方面提出 24 条改革举措：（一）提升新业态新模式能级——促进保税维修、支持保税检测、拓展再制造范围、允许跨境电商退货商品入区同仓合包再出口、扩大保税培训；（二）保障产业链供应链韧性与安全——大宗商品储运、重大技术装备异地监管、关键核心技术差异化合格评定；（三）促进内外贸一体化——区港联动、支持出口转内销（减免强制性产品认证费用、采信国际合格评定结果）、特定货物便捷出区；（四）提高智慧监管与协同共治效能——信息互通互认、加大守信联合激励。值得注意的是，国产出口产品及其零配件可不受保税维修目录与禁止进口旧机电目录限制入区维修或检测，大幅拓宽了外资品牌的售后业务空间。
实操落地步骤
- 选择契合产品与物流的园区——研发导向看中关村，农业看杨凌，航空看郑州或西咸等。
- 在区内设立法人主体并取得市场主体资格；食品生产企业须取得国内生产许可。
- 完成海关注册或备案，并建立海关要求的电子账册。
- 若计划内销，向属地税务机关与海关通过协同机制申请增值税一般纳税人试点。
- 规划保税流向：利用入区配额与许可证豁免、集中申报（”分送集报”，按季度）、以及内销的选择性征收。
- 借助区区间保税流转与转口集拼打造区域配送中心，并保持区内企业间交易免增值税、消费税。
延伸阅读
- 海关总署令第 256 号《中华人民共和国海关综合保税区管理办法》——区内运作的法定规则手册。
- 国家税务总局、财政部、海关总署 2019 年第 29 号公告——关于增值税一般纳税人试点。
- 国办函〔2026〕40 号——综保区扩能提质 24 条措施。
- 本系列关联主题：区外保税检测、区内及跨境保税维修、自贸区保税物流实操手册。
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