How far in advance should I prepare an export declaration at Hangzhou?
Three to five working days before departure for general cargo, which leaves room for classification and advance filing. Powered goods, chemicals and cool-chain cargo need five to seven, because UN38.3 reports, transport condition reports and pack certificates wait on factories and labs. E-commerce is a different clock: clean the list data before the parcels enter the premises, because changing it afterwards usually means the whole batch is returned and refiled.
Does release mean the cargo makes that flight?
No. Release ends the customs step. Acceptance, screening, build-up and load planning still follow, and at a terminal that handles every kilo of the airport's international cargo, that queue moves with the flight bank. We schedule filing to finish before the cut-off with margin, and plan against release time plus queue time rather than release alone.
What is airside direct transfer, and can my cargo use it?
It moves cargo that arrives on a domestic flight and leaves on an international one through a corridor inside the apron, from the domestic terminal to the international terminal, without a road leg or a second security pass. Hangzhou's own comparison: four handovers, two screenings and about four hours on the traditional path, against under 30 minutes on the corridor, with total clearance time down more than 60% and roughly 30% less ground transfer cost. Whether your shipment qualifies depends on carrier connections and terminal conditions, so it is confirmed case by case.
Should Zhejiang cargo fly from Hangzhou or from Shanghai Pudong?
Three inputs: whether the destination has a direct freighter from Hangzhou, the rate, and how tight the cut-off is. Hangzhou runs 28 international cargo routes with about 120 freighter movements a week, covering Europe, North America, Central and Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia, and moved 257,000 tonnes internationally in 2025. Where there is no direct service, cargo moves to Pudong or Ningbo by air-to-air or air-road transit, with the declaration closed at origin and the transit written off at Hangzhou before uplift.
Where do 9610 parcels usually get stuck?
On inconsistency between the order, the payment record and the logistics record. Vague categories, declared prices well below comparable goods, batteries or alcohol mixed into general parcels, and returns packed with new stock all stop on the sorting line for a piece-level check. Hangzhou clears on arrival, but only for data that was right before arrival. For large, mixed batches, splitting by category clears faster than filing one big list.
What does the bonded zone air sub-zone do for an exporter?
It closed in March 2026 and is joined to the east cargo terminal by a dedicated gate, supervised as one site. Practically: cargo that needs a refund on entry can be declared into the zone, stored there, and then released out into the terminal for uplift, without a road leg between a bonded park and the airport. Bonded R&D, testing and repair, e-commerce and aircraft-part supply all run through the same gate system.
Can I export from Hangzhou without an import-export license?
Not in your own name. Companies without a license usually file through a qualified foreign trade service provider or an agent, and the party receiving payment, the party claiming the refund and the declarant on the entry then have to be the same. Buying an export slot under someone else's name gets cargo out of the country, but it forfeits the VAT refund and carries compliance risk.
Do products with batteries always ship as dangerous goods?
It depends on cell chemistry, capacity and packaging. Lithium-ion cells ship under UN3480 and UN3481 with a UN38.3 report and SDS, usually with a pack certificate and a DGD. Small cells installed in equipment can qualify for exemption and move as general cargo, but that has to be supported by documentation rather than judgement. The carrier's acceptance rules settle the question.
I have filed and the description or value is wrong. Now what?
Before release, you can apply to amend or withdraw the declaration with a reason and supporting documents. After release, and certainly after departure, the amendment route gets longer and can affect the VAT refund. By air there is no second flight to absorb the delay, which is why the contract, invoice, packing list and manifest are cross-checked before filing: an amendment costs more than a review.
Do you only file declarations, or can you arrange pickup and air freight?
Filing is the core service. We also arrange pickup and warehousing in Hangzhou, Shaoxing, Ningbo and Yiwu, and book space out of HGH, so collection, declaration, terminal acceptance and uplift sit on one schedule. If you already have a forwarder or a carrier contract, we can take only the declaration and documentation.
