- On 14 April 2026 the State Council approved, and the General Office forwarded, the General Administration of Customs’ “Several Measures for Promoting the Capacity and Quality Upgrade of Comprehensive Bonded Zones” (国办函〔2026〕40号) — 24 reform measures, the first such top-level document since 2019.
2026年4月14日，国务院同意、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）——24项改革措施，是2019年以来国家再次出台的支持综保区发展顶层设计文件。- China now runs 168 comprehensive bonded zones across all 31 provincial regions; in 2025 they handled RMB 7.2 trillion in import-export value (about 16% of the national total), rising 27.1% in the first five months of 2026.
中国现运行168个综合保税区，覆盖全部31个省份；2025年实现进出口7.2万亿元（约占全国16%），2026年前5个月达3.5万亿元、同比增长27.1%。- The measures follow a “four transitions, four upgrades” logic — from processing/logistics to high-end “bonded+” services, from trade-led to strategy-led, from “two-ends-out” to dual circulation, and from fence management to smart supervision.
措施遵循”四转四提升”逻辑——从加工物流转向高端”保税+”服务、从贸易导向转向战略导向、从”两头在外”转向双循环、从围网管理转向智慧监管。- Bonded repair moves from a 276-item positive list toward a negative-list exploration, broadening repairable products and allowing repaired goods to flow on and, step-by-step, to domestic sale.
保税维修由276类正面清单转向探索负面清单，扩大可修产品范围，并允许维修成品继续加工后离境出口、分步推进转内销。- Cross-border financial-leasing remote supervision expands from 3 equipment types (aircraft, ships, offshore structures) to all major technical equipment that cannot physically enter the zone.
融资租赁异地委托监管由3类设备（飞机、船舶、海洋工程结构物）扩展至所有无法实际入区的重大技术装备及其零配件。- For foreign manufacturers, a CBZ remains the fastest route to bonded imports, in-zone processing, re-export and now extended “bonded+” services with lighter compliance.
对外国制造商而言，综保区仍是保税进口、区内加工、复出口以及如今更轻合规的扩展型”保税+”服务的最快路径。
Comprehensive Bonded Zones Get a 2026 Upgrade: 24 Measures for “Capacity and Quality” | 综合保税区2026升级：扩能提质的24项措施
A new top-level blueprint for CBZs
On 14 April 2026, with State Council approval, the General Office forwarded the General Administration of Customs’ (GACC) *Several Measures for Promoting the Capacity and Quality Upgrade of Comprehensive Bonded Zones* (国办函〔2026〕40号), unveiling 24 reform measures. This is the first “top-level design” document supporting comprehensive bonded zones (CBZs, 综合保税区) since the State Council’s January 2019 *Opinions on Promoting High-Level Opening and High-Quality Development of CBZs* (国发〔2019〕3号). GACC held a press conference on 27 April 2026 to explain it.
The timing is deliberate: 2026 marks the 20th anniversary of China’s CBZ programme. CBZs are the highest-openness, most convenient and most preferential of the customs special supervision areas (海关特殊监管区域), and they have become a core platform for foreign trade. The 2026 document is explicitly a response to a changing global trade pattern and the need to support the “dual circulation” strategy — shifting CBZs from pure export processing toward serving both domestic and international markets.
The scale and why it matters
The numbers explain the policy attention. China now operates 168 CBZs covering all 31 provincial-level regions. In 2025, the zones achieved import-export value of RMB 7.2 trillion, accounting for about 16% of the national total; in the first five months of 2026 alone they reached RMB 3.5 trillion, up 27.1% year-on-year and about 16.9% of national trade. In GACC’s own phrase, CBZs contribute roughly one-sixth of national foreign-trade value on about one fifty-thousandth of the country’s land area. For any foreign manufacturer or trader, a CBZ is therefore not a niche instrument but a mainstream channel.
The “four transitions, four upgrades”
The 24 measures are organised around a “four transitions, four upgrades” (四转四提升) framework:
- Industry form: from traditional processing and logistics toward diversified, high-end integration of production and services — boosting “bonded+” (保税+) new forms such as bonded repair, bonded testing, remanufacturing, cross-border e-commerce and bonded training (7 measures).
- Function: from a trade-led orientation toward serving national strategic needs — supporting major technical-equipment supply chains through remote supervision, optimising key-commodity management and differentiated conformity assessment (4 measures).
- Development model: from the traditional “two-ends-out” (两头在外) toward serving the domestic-international dual circulation — linking CBZs with ports, supporting export-to-domestic conversion, simplifying equipment out-zone procedures and optimising cross-border settlement (7 measures).
- Supervision: from fence-based control toward digital, collaborative smart supervision — building smart supervision systems,全生命周期 management, and a comprehensive service platform (6 measures).
Bonded repair: positive list to negative list
A flagship change is in bonded repair (保税维修). Until now, repairable products followed a positive list — four batches covering 276 product categories. The 2026 measures explore a shift to a negative-list approach, which materially widens the scope. They also broaden the downstream flow: repaired goods may continue to be processed in-zone and exported, and — step by step — be sold domestically; and domestically manufactured export products may enter a CBZ from abroad for repair and re-export without being constrained by the repair catalogue or the prohibited-imported-used-machinery catalogue. In 2025, CBZ repair import-export value reached RMB 375.73 billion, up 3.2%. For foreign high-end-equipment and electronics firms, this opens a credible China-based MRO and after-sales footprint.
Financial leasing and remote supervision
Another concrete easing targets cross-border financial leasing. The earlier remote-supervision measure covered only three equipment types — aircraft, ships and offshore engineering structures — letting leased goods bypass physical entry into the zone. The 2026 measures extend this to all major technical equipment and parts that cannot practically enter the zone, and build a coordinated mechanism for aircraft and aero-engines to complete production, test-flight and delivery entirely in bonded status. Tianjin Dongjiang CBZ — already China’s largest and the world’s second-largest aircraft-leasing cluster — imported 243 aircraft via bonded leasing in 2025, worth RMB 86.76 billion (up 28.7%). The expansion signals a wider opening for capital-equipment leasing.
Biomedical R&D and logistics linkage
The measures also help biomedical firms. Rather than forcing R&D into the zone, GACC will pilot granting qualified outside-the-zone biomedical R&D enterprises a CBZ customs registration code, so they can share the zone’s bonded-R&D benefits — a “let the policy go out” approach. On logistics, the document supports aviation forward stations inside CBZs and supporting facilities for China–Europe freight-train assembly centres, building a “corridor + hub + industry” pattern. In 2025, China–Europe trains (Xi’an) assembled through Xi’an CBZ reached 140,000 TEU (1,709 trains, up 21.2%), with cargo value of RMB 33.65 billion (up 10.8%), about 46.1% of the train’s import-export total.
Smart supervision rounds it out: AI, IoT, digital twins and blockchain are to be applied; “internet + audit” and “self-inventory + self-tax” models are piloted to let “data run, not enterprises”.
What foreign firms should do
- If you import, process and re-export, locate the operation in a CBZ to suspend duties and avoid VAT on bonded inputs.
- For repair/after-sales of high-value equipment, assess the move from the 276-item positive list toward a negative-list regime — far more products will qualify.
- For capital-equipment leasing into China, use the expanded remote-supervision route to avoid physical in-zone handling.
- Biomedical R&D groups should explore the outside-the-zone registration-code pilot to capture bonded-R&D savings without relocating labs.
- Model domestic-sale conversions (出口转内销) under the eased licence and customs-clearance rules to serve the China market directly from the zone.
- Engage the CBZ’s smart-supervision channel early — compliant, data-driven firms get faster clearance.
Choosing and applying to a CBZ
Not every CBZ fits every business. GACC’s “full-lifecycle management” approach explicitly directs localities to control incremental supply, optimise stock and raise quality — meaning new zone applications are scrutinised for genuine industrial logic, not granted indiscriminately. A foreign firm should shortlist zones by existing cluster strength (aviation leasing in Tianjin Dongjiang, biomedical in Chengdu Hi-tech and Nantong, China–Europe hubbing in Xi’an) and by the specific “bonded+” right it needs (repair, testing, remanufacturing, cross-border e-commerce, training).
The application itself is not a single licence but a layered fit: zone admission by the local zone authority, customs registration, and — for special regimes like the outside-the-zone biomedical code or the financial-leasing remote-supervision route — a separate qualification filed with customs. Engaging the zone’s investment-promotion office early, and aligning the project with the zone’s encouraged “indent catalogue”, typically unlocks fiscal and land incentives on top of the customs benefits.
Smart supervision and the SME angle
The “smart supervision” pillar matters most for smaller firms that lack dedicated compliance teams. Pilots such as “internet + audit” and “self-inventory + self-tax” let trusted enterprises report and reconcile data electronically rather than host physical inspections, and the comprehensive service platform is meant to consolidate regulatory touchpoints so a firm deals with one window, not many. For an SME, this converts a CBZ from “great if you have scale” into a usable entry for bonded import, processing and re-export at modest volume.
综合保税区2026升级：扩能提质的24项措施
综保区的新顶层蓝图
2026年4月14日，经国务院同意，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），推出24项改革措施。这是继2019年1月国务院《关于促进综合保税区高水平开放高质量发展的若干意见》（国发〔2019〕3号）之后，国家再次出台支持综保区发展的顶层设计文件。海关总署于2026年4月27日举行新闻发布会解读。
时机用意明确：2026年是中国综保区建设20周年。综保区是开放层次高、通关便捷、政策优惠的海关特殊监管区域，已成为外贸发展的重要平台。2026年文件明确回应全球贸易格局重塑与”双循环”战略需要——推动综保区从纯出口加工转向统筹服务国内国际两个市场。
规模与重要性
数据说明了政策关注度。中国现运行168个综保区，覆盖全部31个省份。2025年，全国综保区实现进出口7.2万亿元，约占同期全国16%；2026年前5个月即达3.5万亿元，同比增长27.1%，约占全国16.9%。用海关总署的话说，综保区以约十万分之五的国土面积贡献了全国约六分之一的外贸进出口。对任何外国制造商或贸易商而言，综保区不是小众工具，而是主流渠道。
“四转四提升”
24项措施围绕”四转四提升”框架：
- 产业形态：从传统加工物流转向多元化、高端化生产与服务深度融合——提升保税维修、保税检测、再制造、跨境电商、保税培训等”保税+”新业态（7条）。
- 功能作用：从贸易导向转向突出国家战略需求——实施重大技术装备产业链异地监管、优化重点商品管理、差异化合格评定（4条）。
- 发展模式：从”两头在外”转向服务双循环——支持区港联动、出口转内销、特定货物便捷出区、简化设备出区、优化跨境结算（7条）。
- 监管方式：从围网管理转向数智化、协同化智慧监管——建设智慧监管体系、全生命周期管理、综合服务平台（6条）。
保税维修：正面清单走向负面清单
标志性变化在保税维修。此前可修产品实行正面清单——四批目录共276类。2026措施探索转向负面清单管理，大幅拓宽范围。同时拓宽流向：维修成品可继续在区内加工后离境出口，并分步推进转内销；国产出口产品自境外进入综保区维修后复运出境，不受维修产品目录及禁止进口旧机电目录限制。2025年，全国综保区维修进出口值3757.3亿元，同比增长3.2%。对高端装备与电子类外企，这提供了可信的在华MRO与售后布局。
融资租赁与异地委托监管
另一具体放宽为跨境融资租赁。此前异地委托监管仅覆盖飞机、船舶、海洋工程结构物3类，使租赁货物免实际入区。2026措施将其扩展至所有无法实际入区的重大技术装备及其零配件，并建立飞机及航空发动机全程保税完成生产、试飞、交付的联动机制。天津东疆综保区——中国最大、世界第二的飞机租赁聚集地——2025年通过保税租赁进口飞机243架、货值867.6亿元（增长28.7%）。此次扩围意味着资本设备租赁的更广开放。
生物医药研发与物流联动
措施亦惠及生物医药企业。与其强求研发迁入区内，海关将试点对符合条件的区外生物医药研发企业赋予综保区海关注册编码，使其共享区内保税研发红利——一种”让政策走出去”的思路。物流方面，文件支持在综保区设立航空前置货站及中欧班列集结中心配套设施，构建”通道+枢纽+产业”格局。2025年，中欧班列（西安）经西安综保区集结14万标箱（1709列，增长21.2%），货值336.5亿元（增长10.8%），占班列进出口总额46.1%。
智慧监管收尾：应用人工智能、物联网、数字孪生、区块链；试点”互联网+稽核查””自行盘点+自主补税”，实现”数据多跑路、企业少跑腿”。
外国企业应如何行动
- 若从事进口、加工、复出口，将业务布局综保区以暂缓征税，并免保税进项增值税。
- 对高价值装备的维修/售后，评估由276类正面清单转向负面清单——将有更多产品符合条件。
- 对资本设备租赁入华，利用扩围后的异地委托监管路线，避免货物实际入区搬运。
- 生物医药研发集团应探索区外赋码试点，无需搬迁实验室即可享受保税研发红利。
- 在放宽许可与通关规则下，测算依托综保区的”出口转内销”路径，直接从区内服务中国市场。
- 尽早接入综保区智慧监管通道——合规、数据驱动的企业获更快通关。
如何选择与申请综保区
并非每个综保区都适合每类业务。海关总署”全生命周期管理”思路明确要求地方控制增量、优化存量、提升质量——意味着新设综保区申请须论证真实产业逻辑，而非随意获批。外国企业应按既有集群优势（天津东疆的航空租赁、成都高新与南通的生物医药、西安的中欧班列枢纽）及所需的具体”保税+”权利（维修、检测、再制造、跨境电商、培训）来初筛。
申请本身不是一张执照，而是分层适配：区管委会的企业入区核准、海关注册，以及——对区外生物医药赋码、融资租赁异地委托监管等特殊制度——向海关另行申报的资质。尽早对接区招商部门，并将项目与片区”鼓励类目录”对齐，通常可在海关红利之外叠加财政与土地激励。
智慧监管与中小企业视角
“智慧监管”支柱对缺乏专职合规团队的小企业最有意义。”互联网+稽核查””自行盘点+自主补税”等试点让守信企业以电子方式报送并对账，而非迎接实地稽查；综合服务平台意在整合监管触点，使企业面对”一个窗口”而非多个部门。对中小企业而言，这使综保区从”有规模才好用”变为可承载小规模保税进口、加工与复出口的实用入口。
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