All importers and exporters in China are required to register with Customs authorities for an importer or exporter Customs Registration code (CR Code), or engage with an agent who has the CR Code and is authorized to act as the importer or exporter of record for their shipments. This CR code is to be indicated on customs declaration forms of all shipments, except for documents and personal effects. We encourage you to relay the urgency of these requirements (for both HS Codes and CR Codes) to your trading partners in China, as shipments being imported into/exported out of China may be placed on hold by Customs authorities until this information is available.

All shipments, with the exception of documents, being exported from/imported into China will require a Harmonized System code (HS Code) to be indicated on customs declaration forms. The provision of the HS code, along with an accurate and detailed goods description in the supporting documents, will help expedite HS classification and ultimately clearance of the goods.

View China Customs Service official information regarding HS codes

Samples and advertising materials not exceeding RMB 400 (approximately $71 US) in value are currently exempted from duties and taxes. This duty-free value threshold will no longer apply. The new threshold will be based on the duty and VAT liability, as determined by the HS code. Any shipment with a duty and VAT liability less than RMB 50 (approximately $7 US) is exempted from duties and taxes.

Personal effects are limited to unaccompanied baggage or commodity/gift sent to private individual with reasonable quantity for personal use.

• Value threshold: Less than CNY1,000(USD153)
• If shipment contains only one item, it still can be cleared as personal effects even if the value is over CNY 1,000 (USD 153). However, customs reserves the right to approve the importation or return to origin.
• Clearance paperwork:
  - For Unaccompanied baggage: passport with valid visa and entry/exit stamp by immigration; Baggage Declaration Form stamped by border Customs with the list of articles
  - For Commodity/gift sent to private: Copy of consignee’s ID; List of the commodity/gift in detail and Proforma invoice