External comprehensive service platform

A Foreign Trade Comprehensive Service Platform integrates services from various stages of the foreign trade industry chain to provide one-stop, full-process foreign trade services for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Its core function is to lower the barriers to foreign trade and improve efficiency through standardized and digital services, addressing pain points faced by SMEs in import and export processes, such as qualifications, funding, logistics, and customs clearance. The following sections will elaborate on service content, operating models, policy support, and development trends.

I. Core Service Content of Foreign Trade Comprehensive Service Platforms

1. Basic Customs Clearance Services

Import and Export Qualification Agency: Acting on behalf of SMEs without import and export rights to handle the "Registration of Foreign Trade Operators" and "Customs Registration Certificate".
Customs Declaration and Inspection Agency: Handling customs declarations and inspection and quarantine procedures for import and export goods (such as submitting customs declarations, certificates of origin, and inspection certificates) to optimize customs clearance processes.
Tariff Planning: Utilizing Free Trade Agreement (FTA) rules of origin (such as RCEP) to help companies apply for tariff reductions (such as processing FORM E certificates of origin).

2. Logistics and Supply Chain Services

International Freight Forwarding: Integrating sea, air, and land transportation resources to provide booking, trucking, and warehousing services (such as cooperating with COSCO SHIPPING and Sinotrans), reducing logistics costs.
Overseas Warehouse Services: Connecting with overseas warehousing bases to provide first-leg transportation, warehouse management, local delivery, and return and exchange services (such as overseas warehouses in Europe, America, and Southeast Asia).
Multimodal Transportation Solutions: Designing "door-to-door" logistics solutions (such as China-Europe Railway Express + overseas trucking) to improve efficiency.

3. Cross-border Settlement and Financing Services

Foreign Exchange Settlement: Providing compliant cross-border payment services, supporting multi-currency settlement (such as USD, EUR, CNY), and hedging against exchange rate risks (such as locking in exchange rates through forward exchange contracts).
Trade Financing:
Receivables Financing: Providing financing to enterprises based on completed export orders (such as applying for funds based on customs declarations and bills of lading).
Letter of Credit Financing: Reviewing letter of credit terms and providing packing loans or negotiation services.
Supply Chain Finance: Cooperating with banks and factoring companies to provide financing to upstream and downstream SMEs based on the credit of core enterprises.

4. Export Tax Rebate Services

One-stop Tax Rebate Agency: Acting on behalf of enterprises to complete export tax rebate declarations (requiring customs declarations, VAT invoices, and verification forms), shortening the tax rebate cycle (such as from the traditional 2-3 months to 1-2 weeks).
Advance Tax Rebate Payment: Some platforms provide "tax rebate financing" services, paying the tax rebate to the enterprise in advance to alleviate financial pressure.

5. Cross-border E-commerce Supporting Services

Platform Entry Support: Assisting enterprises in entering cross-border e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and Shopee, providing services such as account registration, compliance review, and product selection analysis.
Cross-border E-commerce Logistics: Connecting with customs supervision models such as "9710 cross-border e-commerce export" and "1210 online shopping bonded import," providing dedicated logistics and chartered flight services.
Overseas Marketing Services: Cooperating with social media (such as TikTok and Google) to provide brand promotion, independent website construction, and influencer marketing services.

6. Risk Management and Compliance Support

Credit Insurance: Cooperating with China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation (Sinosure) to provide export credit insurance for enterprises, covering risks such as buyer bankruptcy and arrears.
Compliance Review: Providing services such as commodity classification, rules of origin, and anti-dumping warnings (such as reminding enterprises that a certain product faces anti-dumping duties in the EU) to avoid trade frictions.

II. Operating Models of Foreign Trade Comprehensive Service Platforms

1. Classification by Service Target

For Export Enterprises: Focusing on domestic manufacturing enterprises, providing full-chain services from order acquisition to settlement and tax rebates (such as "Yidaton" under Alibaba International Station).
For Import Enterprises: Serving domestic purchasers, providing services such as overseas supplier selection, cross-border payment, customs clearance, and domestic distribution (such as JD.com's international import supply chain platform).

2. Classification by Platform Attributes

E-commerce Platform Type: Extending services based on its own e-commerce ecosystem (such as Amazon "Fulfillment by Amazon +" and Alibaba "Yidaton"), integrating traffic, transactions, and logistics resources.
Vertical Industry Type: Focusing on specific industries (such as textiles and 3C products), providing specialized services (such as "Kailuo" platform under Focus Technology specializing in cross-border e-commerce).
Government Cooperation Type: Working with local governments, customs, and tax authorities to build regional service platforms (such as Shenzhen's "single window" supporting foreign trade comprehensive service platform).

3. Profit Model

Service Fees: Charging service fees for customs clearance, logistics, tax rebates, etc., per order (such as 100-500 yuan per order).
Price Difference Income: Obtaining price differences through large-scale procurement of logistics and foreign exchange settlement services (such as obtaining sea freight discounts through centralized booking).
Financial Service Income: Collecting commissions from value-added services such as trade financing and insurance (such as charging a 1%-3% handling fee for financing services).