China Post tracking status
China Post “Customs clearance completed”: what it means
The short answer
Keep an eye on itCustoms has checked your package, either in China on the way out or in your country on the way in. 'Completed' is good news, but read the place: after a line in China, your own country's customs is still ahead.
When to act: If a customs line in your country has not moved after 10 days, file a complaint and we send it to China Post.
Also shown as: “Released from customs” · “Your item was released from Customs” · “Item Presented to Customs” · “Item Returned from Customs”
What to do now
- 1
Read whether the line names a place in China or in your country. A line in China needs nothing from you.
- 2
For an import hold, look through your email, text messages and mail for a request about duty or ID. Before you pay, check that it names your tracking number.
- 3
Keep your order confirmation and the price to hand, should customs ask about the contents.
- 4
Note the date of the line and count 10 days from there.
- 5
Keep screenshots of the line and your order.
- 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.
What does “Customs clearance completed” mean?
These lines come in two places: going out of China and coming into your country. 'Item Presented to Customs' means the package went to customs. 'Released from customs', 'Customs clearance completed' or 'Item Returned from Customs' mean customs has passed it back to the post, not that it is going back to the seller. The postal standard has the same steps on both sides, with a release code on the returned event, and also a 'Held by import customs' step, which we have not seen in a shared China Post history.
A bare 'Returned' needs care. In shared China Post histories it sits beside a customs release at the same minute, or repeats while a package moves between sorting centers, and one of those packages then left for Canada. Another history reads 'security return' several times for a package sent back through Beijing. China Post gives no reasons on its English pages. On AliExpress orders, AliExpress says the buyer has to do the clearance, and lists a tax or document that is required, or a document missing from the seller, as reasons for a hold.
Why does China Post show it?
- A routine export check in China
- A security check before the flight, which can send the package back for sorting
- An inspection at import customs in your country
- Duty or tax to pay
- Missing paperwork from the seller
How long does it last?
After a line in China, expect 'Dispatched from Office of Exchange' or 'Departure from outward office of exchange'. After a line in your country, expect a scan from the post there. We found no published time for this step.
Other China Post statuses
- Departure from outward office of exchangeKeep an eye on it
- Arrival at inward office of exchangeNormal
- Delivered but not receivedTake action
- Tracking not updatingKeep an eye on it
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 “Customs clearance completed”
What does customs clearance completed mean on China Post?
Customs has released the package and it can move on. Check the place in the line, because after a line in China it still has a flight and your own country's customs ahead.
What does Item Presented to Customs mean on China Post?
The package has gone to customs for a check. If the place is in China, this is the export side, and you do not need to do anything.
Why does my China Post tracking say Returned?
China Post does not explain it on its English pages. In shared histories it often sits beside a customs release, or repeats while a package moves through sorting in China, so it does not always mean the package is going back to the seller. Watch the next line.
How long can a China Post package be held by customs?
China Post publishes no limit. After 10 days on a customs line in your country, file a complaint and we send it to China Post.
Do I have to pay customs on a China Post package?
That varies by country and by order. On AliExpress orders, AliExpress says the buyer has to do the clearance, including any tax or document that is required.
Based on
- UPU EMS training slides: EMSEVT V3 tracking events (the order of international postal scans)
- AliExpress Help Center: What if the package is held by customs?
- Reddit r/Aliexpress: a China Post history next to Canada Post scans
- Reddit r/Aliexpress: a China EMS (ePacket) history with customs and airline lines
- Reddit r/Aliexpress: a China Post history with repeated 'security return' lines
- Reddit r/Aliexpress: 'Item presented to customs' at Zhuhai
- Reddit r/Aliexpress: 'Your item was released from Customs' on EMS China's site
- 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)