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China Post tracking status

China Post “Arrival at inward office of exchange”: what it means

The short answer

Normal

Your package should have reached the post in your country, which now handles customs and delivery. China Post's page can lag from here, so your own post's tracking may show more.

When to act: If nothing new appears after 14 days, file a complaint and we send it to China Post.

Bizzy online

Tell me what happened. I write your complaint with you and we send it to China Post.

Also shown as: “Departure from inward office of exchange”

What to do now

  1. Enter the same number on your own post's tracking page, because it may show newer scans than China Post.

  2. Check your address and unit number on the order.

  3. Check your mailbox and any delivery notice, in case it came without a new scan.

  4. Note the date of this line and count 14 days from there.

  5. Save a screenshot of the tracking history from each page you checked.

  6. Still not sorted? File your complaint here. We write it with you and send it to China Post, so you do not have to chase it yourself.

    Start my complaint

What does “Arrival at inward office of exchange” mean?

In the postal standard, this is the first step on the import side: 'Arrival at inward office of exchange', then customs, then 'Departure from inward office of exchange', 'Arrival at delivery office', 'Item out for physical delivery' and 'Final delivery'. It does not mean the package is in your town, and it may not even be your country: one ePacket to France showed the departure step in Japan, so read the place. China Post publishes no list of who delivers in each country. In the histories we have seen, some of them years old, that is USPS in the US, Canada Post in Canada and Royal Mail in the UK.

Tracking can split at this point. One buyer's two China Post Small Packet orders arrived in Toronto on the same day: one reached them about two business days later, and the other was still missing nearly three weeks on. UK customers report a number tracked to the UK and then shown as delivered, with no UK tracking number to check.

Why does China Post show it?

  • Waiting for import customs
  • A sorting backlog at the receiving office
  • Your post has not scanned it yet
  • A wrong or incomplete address

How long does it last?

Expect your own post's scans, and then delivery. The time from here varies, as the Toronto example shows, and China Post publishes no figure that we could read.

Other China Post statuses

All China Post statuses →

Who is responsible for a late or missing package from China Post?

A late or missing order from an online seller is in most cases the seller's to put right, because the seller picked China Post and is its customer. China Post's English contact page also leaves formal inquiries on international items to the sender, so as we read it a buyer abroad relies on the seller for that. On a marketplace, its rules come first: AliExpress's Buyer Protection covers an item that did not arrive or was lost in transit, within the guaranteed delivery window on the order page, and Amazon's A-to-z Guarantee covers orders from third-party sellers whose last possible delivery date is 90 days or less ago. A UK order also has section 29 of the Consumer Rights Act, under which goods from a business stay at the seller's risk until you have them, unless you hired a carrier the seller did not offer.

If you posted the package yourself in China, your contract is with China Post, and it says the sender goes to the local post office for a formal inquiry. We found no English terms giving a standard cover amount.

Questions about “Arrival at inward office of exchange”

Who delivers China Post packages in the US?

USPS, in the tracking histories we have seen, though those are some years old. China Post publishes no list, and on some orders another carrier may take over.

Who delivers China Post packages in the UK?

China Post publishes no list. UK customers report Royal Mail taking over, so try the same number on its tracking. Others report a number tracked to the UK and then shown as delivered, with no UK number to check.

Does China Post go through USPS?

In shared histories, yes: USPS tracking shows the same number, so try it there as well as on China Post's page. USPS uses its own words, such as 'Origin Post is Preparing Shipment', meaning it has had notice of the package but has not scanned it.

Why did China Post tracking stop after it arrived?

China Post's page may not get every update from your country's post, and your own post often shows more. After 14 days with nothing new, file a complaint and we send it to China Post.

Based on

  • UPU EMS training slides: EMSEVT V3 tracking events (the order of international postal scans)
  • PINE64 forum: a China Post EMS tracking history shown in USPS tracking
  • RedFlagDeals forum: buyers on ePacket and China Post Small Packet
  • RedFlagDeals forum: an ePacket appearing in tracking after 8 days
  • Trustpilot: customer reviews of China Post (customers' own accounts)
  • Reddit r/Aliexpress: a China Post history next to Canada Post scans
  • Reddit r/Aliexpress: 20 days on 'Arrival at inward office of exchange'
  • Reddit r/Aliexpress: an ePacket to France showing the import step in Japan
  • Reddit r/amazon: USPS tracking on a China Post number
  • Reddit r/royalmail: sent with China Post, delivered by Royal Mail
  • Reddit r/royalmail: Royal Mail and China Post tracking on one parcel
  • China Post: Contact us (tracking sites, formal inquiries go through the sender)
  • AliExpress: Buyer Protection (item that did not arrive within the guaranteed delivery window)
  • Amazon Help: A-to-z Guarantee (orders from third-party sellers, 90 days)
  • legislation.gov.uk: Consumer Rights Act, section 29 (goods stay at the seller's risk until they reach you)

Package still not here?
File a complaint about China Post.

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