Abstract: In the practice of international air cargo transport, the freight forwarder is likely to play both the role of traditional agent and that of contracting carrier. The freight forwarder shall not be identified as a traditional agent arbitrarily; the legal status of freight forwarder shall be decided with reference to different factors such as the air waybill, the specific provisions of the contract between the parties, the freight forwarder’s actual performance of the contract, the way of freight forwarder to receive the contract price and the past trade practice between the parties. China-s "Civil Aviation" provides that only public transport enterprise is qualified to play the role of contracting carrier in air cargo transport; such a provision is not conducive to clarifying the actual identity of freight forwarders.