In 2025, the cross-border e-commerce field will usher in intensive regulatory and policy adjustments.
Domestic policies continue to release dividends, while tariff barriers in the international market have increased significantly. These two forces are intertwined and are profoundly affecting the competitive landscape of the industry.
As an important part of cross-border e-commerce products, health food related information deserves special attention.
First, let’s look at the release of domestic policy dividends.
In terms of customs clearance and tax refund reform, the customs closure of Hainan Free Trade Port is a landmark event in the field of cross-border e-commerce.
On December 18, 2025, the Hainan Free Trade Port’s island-wide customs sealing operation was officially launched. The items to be declared after customs sealing were streamlined from 105 to 33 items, customs clearance efficiency increased by more than 50%, the four types of cross-border e-commerce supervision models were fully adapted, and goods were directly transferred to the bonded warehouse without registration, which greatly shortened the turnover cycle.
At the same time, Hainan has added a new fifth-freedom rights international freight route, which has improved the logistics network and shortened the logistics time to Southeast Asia by 1-2 days. This has further strengthened the location advantage of my country’s cross-border e-commerce in the Southeast Asian market and promoted Hainan to become a regional cross-border e-commerce hub.
In addition, the “tax refund upon departure” policy of the 9810 overseas warehouse model has been promoted across the country and has been implemented regularly in Guangzhou.
On December 22, 2025, Guangzhou City realized the normal operation of the cross-border e-commerce policy of “tax refund upon departure and re-accounting of sales”, which solved the problems of the traditional tax refund model with long cycle, complicated process and occupying a large amount of funds for enterprises, and significantly improved the capital turnover rate.
In terms of expansion of comprehensive pilot zones and optimization of category policies, in April 2025, the State Council agreed to establish comprehensive pilot zones in 15 cities (regions) including Hainan Island and Qinhuangdao, and provide support such as exemption from value-added tax consumption tax and corporate income tax assessment and collection, forming a “policy depression” effect.
The online verification of the “Certificate of Tax Paid/Non-Refundable for Exported Goods” implemented by the General Administration of Customs and the State Administration of Taxation has further simplified the customs clearance process.
The policy for homologous categories of medicine and food has also been upgraded. On December 3, 2025, the four departments jointly issued a policy to increase the import catalog from 93 to 110 types, add Southeast Asian specialty raw materials, and promote a new customs clearance model of “recording + certification + traceability”. Pilot companies do not need to apply for an “Imported Drug Customs Clearance Form”. Pilot breakthroughs at the local level have also greatly improved the efficiency of category circulation.
However, rising international tariff barriers have also brought challenges to cross-border e-commerce.
The United States’ repeated adjustments to China’s small-value parcel tax-free policy have impacted the small parcel direct mail model and accelerated the transformation of overseas warehouses.
Starting from January 1, 2026, Mexico will impose additional tariffs on 1,463 product categories from countries without free trade agreements, including China, covering mainstream cross-border e-commerce categories. This has a direct impact on companies that are deeply involved in the Mexican market, forcing companies to accelerate market diversification.
Looking forward to the future development trend of the industry, the operating model will shift from “direct mail is the main one” to “overseas warehouse is king”. The overseas warehouse layout will show the characteristics of scale and intensification, localization and intelligence, and regional layout.
The focus of competition will shift from “price competition” to “brand and compliance competition.” Companies need to strengthen compliance capabilities and create differentiated products.
In terms of market structure, with the rise of emerging markets and the prominent dividends of regional trade, companies can rely on regional trade agreements to optimize supply chain layout.
The regulatory direction will attach equal importance to “decentralization, regulation and service” as well as risk prevention and control. Enterprises need to proactively adapt to regulatory requirements and establish a full-process compliance system to achieve sustainable development.
