How far ahead should I start clearance at Daxing Airport?
For general cargo, get the documents to the broker three to five working days before departure, which leaves room for classification checks and advance filing. Batteries, chemicals, cold chain and medicine need five to seven working days, because UN38.3 summaries, transport appraisals, quarantine approvals and licenses take longer than the flight does. Daxing's belly departures run through the day, so the paperwork has to be settled the evening before.
Why does an air export get weighed before it gets filed?
Because pieces, gross weight and volume on the entry have to equal the terminal's measurement, and that same measurement sets the chargeable weight. File on the shipper's estimate and a few kilos of difference forces an amendment, which the carrier has to mirror in the manifest, at the shipper's cost and on the carrier's timetable. Arrival, weighing, arrival data, filing — that is the order.
Does a release mean my freight makes the flight?
No. Release closes the customs step. Acceptance, aviation screening, pallet build and load planning come after it, and at Daxing most export capacity is belly space that shifts when the passenger schedule shifts. Plan from release time plus terminal time, not from the release message, and never from the scheduled departure time.
Daxing or Beijing Capital — how do I choose?
By carrier and destination. Daxing is the main base for China Southern and China Eastern, so their networks are densest there. Capital has the broader set of long-haul international destinations. The two airports run a joint cargo program with 18 transfer patterns and outbound cross-hub transfer can be arranged, but a transfer costs time and money, so do not treat the two as interchangeable.
Do battery products always have to move as dangerous goods?
It depends on chemistry, capacity and how the cells travel. Lithium-ion cells shipped alone are UN3480; packed with equipment or contained in equipment they are UN3481. Lithium metal cells are UN3090 and UN3091. Most shipments need a UN38.3 summary, a safety data sheet, a packaging certificate and a shipper's declaration. Small cells contained in equipment can qualify for relief, but the relief has to be documented, and the carrying airline always has the final word.
How can imported perishables clear in about two hours?
Because most of the work happens before landing. Daxing holds four designated supervision sites — fruit, live aquatic animals, chilled fish, nursery stock — and inspection runs at the customs center on Huoyou 1st Road. We file in advance and pre-check the official certificates, so once the aircraft is down only manifest write-off, inspection, sampling and release remain. Airport figures put the fastest arrival-to-collection at 120 minutes.
Can I import medicine through Daxing?
Yes. The airport holds medicine import status and the bonded zone runs a fast lane where filing, sampling and customs release can close within 24 hours, supported by a platform for clinically urgent drugs and devices. Batch numbers, expiry dates and temperature records must match the entry, and special items need separate health and quarantine approval.
What can I actually do inside the bonded zone?
The zone has been fully closed since 30 December 2024. Bonded storage, bonded processing, bonded R&D and repair, import transshipment and staged withdrawal all run there. One gate serves both the port and the bonded movement, and the 1.64 km link road takes three minutes. It is also the only customs special supervision area in China that crosses a provincial boundary, with Beijing Daxing and Hebei Langfang each holding about half.
I filed the entry and then found a wrong description. Now what?
Before release, you can apply to amend or cancel with a stated reason and supporting documents. After release — and certainly after departure — the process is longer and can affect the VAT refund. On air cargo the manifest usually has to be amended too, otherwise the entry and manifest disagree at close-out. Cross-check contract, invoice, packing list, manifest and entry before filing; an amendment always costs more than the check.
When do I get the VAT refund documents?
Normally one to three working days after departure, once the manifest closes and the entry is written off. Amendments, inspections and manifest delays push that out, and we tell finance as soon as a date moves so the refund filing window is not missed. Goods exported through the bonded zone count as exported when they enter the zone, so the refund timing is earlier, but the withdrawal record still has to reconcile.
