Agency export,How exactly are cross-border payments for goods completed?

In export agency business, the fund flow follows"Overseas buyer → Agency company → Actual exporter"path. Legitimate foreign trade agencies must be registered with the SAFE (State Administration of Foreign Exchange) and hold import-export operation qualifications. Taking the current 2025 policy as an example, the main process consists of three stages:

• Stage 1: Signing tripartite agreement
  • Specify payment settlement currency (USD/EUR etc.)
  • Agree on agency fee calculation method (percentage/fixed amount)
  • Determine customs declaration document ownership
• Stage 2: Foreign exchange receipt processing
  • Agency company receives foreign exchange payments via TT/L/C etc.
  • Complete bank settlement (T+1 to T+3 working days)
  • Deduct agreed agency service fees
• Stage 3: Domestic RMB payment
  • Convert to RMB at real-time exchange rate
  • Transfer via corporate-to-corporate account
  • Provide tax payment certificates and settlement statements

What are the differences in account arrival cycles under different settlement methods?

Based on our service data from 300+ foreign trade enterprises, the fund arrival timelines for major payment methods compare as follows:

• T/T telegraphic transfer
  • Advance TT: Funds arrive 7-15 days before shipment
  • Post TT: 30-60 days after bill of lading date
• Letter of Credit L/C
  • Sight L/C: 5-7 working days after document compliance
  • Usance L/C: +30/60/90 days credit period
• DP Collection
  • Average 45-60 days turnover period
  • Risk of buyers payment refusal exists

How to prevent fund risks in agency exports?

Based on 20 years of industry experience, we recommend focusing on these three key aspects:

• Monitoring of funds
  • Require agency company to provide bank receipt slip
  • Verify consistency between received amount and PI
  • Check matching with customs export data
• Account security
  • Confirm the foreign exchange account of the agency company is a supervised account
  • Avoid using NRA/offshore accounts for receiving payments
  • Reject third-party collection and payment requests
• Tax Compliance
  • Require issuance of special VAT invoices
  • Retain customs declaration forms/bills of lading/contracts for triple verification
  • verifiedExport tax refund40. declaration records in the past 3 months

What to do if the agency company withholds payments?

A typical case encountered by a clothing exporter in 2023 shows that when selecting an agency company, key verifications should include:

• Corporate credit report (no major litigation records)
• Status on the foreign exchange enterprise directory
• Affiliated companies of actual controllers
• Bank credit lines and transaction volume

Recommended adoption"Phased settlement + bank escrow account"Specify clearly in the agency agreement:
"Payment in RMB must be completed within 3 working days after the payment is received."as a mandatory clause, with agreed daily late fee standards.

Cross-border e-commerceHow to ensure compliant fund repatriation?

For Amazon and other platform sellers, mainstream agency export collection solutions in 2025 include:

• 0110 general trade mode
  • Convert platform sales to B2B orders
  • Export through agency companies with formal customs declaration
• 1039 market procurement mode

• Applicable for single transactions below $150,000

Simplified declaration tax exemption policy