On July 9, 2024, the General Administration of Customs of China issued Announcement No. 81 of 2024, adjusting the filling requirements for the "Date of Shipment" of imported goods. The full text of the announcement is as follows:

To further standardize the declaration behavior of consignors and consignees of import and export goods, the General Administration of Customs of China has decided to adjust the filling requirements for the declaration item "Date of Shipment" of imported goods as follows:

The filling requirement for the "Date of Shipment" is adjusted from "the date when the means of transport carrying the inbound goods leaves the port of departure" to "the date when the inbound goods leave the first overseas loading port."

For goods without actual entry and exit, the date of declaration to the customs shall be filled in. Among them, for declarations made through electronic data customs declaration forms, the date when the declaration data is transmitted to the customs computer system shall be filled in. For declarations made through paper customs declaration forms, the date when the paper customs declaration form is submitted to the customs shall be filled in.

If a customs declaration form covers goods with different dates of shipment, the last date of shipment shall be filled in.

This announcement shall take effect from the date of its announcement.

See the original announcement: http://www.customs.gov.cn/customs/302249/2480148/5977362/index.html