China Post tracking status
China Post “Departure from outward office of exchange”: what it means
The short answer
Keep an eye on itYour package has left China Post's export office, on its way abroad. This is not a delivery line, and the next scan often comes only in your country, so quiet weeks are common.
When to act: If no new scan appears after 21 days, file a complaint and we send it to China Post.
Also shown as: “Dispatched from Office of Exchange” · “Arrival at outward office of exchange” · “Handed over to Airlines” · “Airlines receive it” · “Flight Departure”
What to do now
- 1
Note the date of this line and count 21 days from there.
- 2
Read the city in the line, as it shows which office the package left from.
- 3
Enter the same number on your own post's tracking page, which may pick it up first.
- 4
Write down the latest delivery date from your order page.
- 5
Keep a screenshot of the tracking history and your order number.
- 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 “Departure from outward office of exchange” mean?
An office of exchange is the post's gateway for international mail. In the event list the EMS postal standard uses, this step comes after 'Arrival at outward office of exchange' and any export customs steps, and before the package reaches the next country. It says the package has left the office, which does not prove the flight has gone. In two China Post histories people shared, 'Dispatched from Office of Exchange' was followed by more sorting scans in China, and one package only reached 'Flight Departure' a week later.
Often nothing new shows until your country's post scans it. One forum poster says China Post Registered Air Mail could not be followed after it was handed over to the airline. Another shared a Chinese line, '离开深圳市 发往汉城', which means leaving Shenzhen for Seoul, so a package may stop in another country on the way. The same words are used by other posts, so a line naming Budapest or Singapore comes from that post and not from China Post.
Why does China Post show it?
- The package has left the export office and waits for a flight
- Flights or a transit stop between China and your country
- No more updates until your country's post scans it
- Export customs or a security check around this step, which can send it back for sorting
How long does it last?
The next line should be 'Arrival at inward office of exchange', or a scan from the post in your country. China Post publishes no time for this gap that we could read.
Other China Post statuses
- Customs clearance completedKeep 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 “Departure from outward office of exchange”
What does departure from outward office of exchange mean?
The package has left China Post's export office and is heading abroad. It does not prove a flight has left, and the next scan often comes only in your country.
How long does it take after departure from outward office of exchange?
China Post publishes no time that we could read, and quiet weeks are common in what buyers share. After 21 days with nothing new, file a complaint and we send it to China Post.
Has my package left China?
Not for certain. This line says it left the export office, and in shared histories packages then went back through sorting in China. A scan in your country is the first real proof that it has flown.
What is an office of exchange?
It is the post's gateway for international mail. The outward office sends mail out of a country, and the inward office receives it in the next one.
Based on
- UPU EMS training slides: EMSEVT V3 tracking events (the order of international postal scans)
- 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
- Travel China Guide Q&A: a shared 'Departure from outward office of exchange' line
- RedFlagDeals forum: one buyer's list of shipping times from China
- PINE64 forum: a China Post tracking line in Chinese, Shenzhen to Seoul
- Reddit r/Aliexpress: 'Departure from outward office of exchange' on an order from China, three weeks with no update
- Reddit r/Aliexpress: the same line from Budapest
- Reddit r/Aliexpress: the same line from Singapore
- 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)