It’s crucial to understand what regulations China Customs has on what luggage you can bring in or out of China and in what conditions you need to declare your baggage. Here is a general guide for the China Customs Regulations on luggage.
Classification List of Luggage and Articles of Incoming and Outgoing Passengers
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Classification
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Items
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Limit
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First Class
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Clothing, fabrics, shoes, hats, art products, and other daily supplies under 1000 RMB (1000 RMB included)
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Duty-free in a reasonable quantity and for personal use only. Items with value within 800-1000RMB are limited to one piece of a kind.
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Second Class
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Tobacco products, alcoholic beverages
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1) Residents of Hong Kong or Macau or mainland Chinese residents who travel between Hong Kong and Macau areas for private purposes are allowed to carry 200 cigarettes or 50 cigars or 250g shredded tobaccos or one bottle of alcoholic beverage with an alcohol concentration over 12 degrees (less than 0.75 liters);
2) For other passengers, 400 cigarettes or 100 cigars or 5000g shredded tobaccos, or two bottles of alcoholic beverage with an alcohol concentration over 12 degrees (less than 1.5 liters) are allowed.
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Third Class
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Supplies worth within 1000 - 5000 RMB (including 5000 RMB)
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1) Diplomats stationed abroad, Chinese students and scholars studying abroad, and Chinese workers or aid personnel working overseas stay for over 180 days shall have one item of class 3 free of duty. The same applies to the Chinese ocean seamen who served for 120 days overseas;
2) Other passengers can enjoy a piece of item classified into class 3 be duty-free every calendar year.
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1.The following inbound travelers must go through the “Goods to Declare” channel:
1) Those who carry the items that inflict tax or partial tax like the things (excluding the alcohol or tobacco within the limit) belonging to the second or third classification according to the Classification List of Luggage and Articles of Incoming and Outgoing Passengers;
2) Non-resident passengers and resident passengers holding the re-entry Chinese visas to the countries (regions) visited carry more than one camera, portable receiver, minicam, camcorder, or portable word processor;
3) Those who carry over 6000RMB in cash or 50g silver or gold products;
4) Non-resident passengers carrying foreign currency equivalent to more than 5000 USD;
5) Resident passengers carrying foreign currency equivalent to more than 1000 USD;
6) Those who carry goods or samples exceeding the items regarded as personal luggage items;
7) Passengers who carry animals, plants, or derivative products are required to check and declare;
2.The following outgoing travelers must go through the “Goods to Declare” channel:
1)Those who need to take the personal items that were brought to China like camera, portable receiver, minicam, camcorder, or portable word processor;
2) Those who don't bring the goods they are supposed to take out of the country or didn't declare the temporarily duty-free goods when those items were brought into the country;
3) Passengers carrying foreign currencies, gold, silver, and ornaments made thereof exceed the declared quota or without export license or certificates;
4) Those who carry more than 6000 RMB in cash;
5) Those who carry cultural relics;
6) Passengers carrying goods or samples;
7) Passengers carrying items exceeding the limits set by the China Customs;
8) Those who carry animals, plants, or products thereof that are controlled according to the Chinese Quarantine Act, or other goods that must be checked.
Duty-free Allowances
1) Items of personal use within reasonable quantities like milk powders, cosmetics, and electric cookers;
2) Goods carried by resident passengers with a total value less than 5000 RMB; items with a total value under 2000 RMB carried by non-resident passengers. A single variety of items are limited to personal use and within a reasonable quantity. The purpose of personal use includes the personal use of the travelers themselves and making the item as a gift to friends and families (excluding the purpose of selling or renting). "Reasonable quantity" refers to the quantity that is stipulated by the customs based on the situation of the passenger, the purpose of the travel, and the length of the stay. For passengers who travel to Hong Kong and Macau multiple times in a short period, China customs only allow some travel necessities.
Items Not Exempted
Electronics: iPad, iPhone, laptop, digital camera, air-conditioners, video players, sound equipment, refrigerators, washing machines, cameras, duplicators, program-controlled telephone exchanges, microcomputers and peripherals, telephones, radio paging systems, facsimile printers, electronic calculators, typewriters, and word processors, furniture, illuminating apparatus, and food materials.
Regulations on Items Prohibited to Bring to China
What you can’t bring into China?
Animals and animal products:
1) Live animals (except dogs and cats) including all mammals, birds, fish, amphibians, reptiles, insects, other invertebrates, and animal genetic materials;
2) Meat (raw or cooked), animal organs and relevant product, aquatic animal products;
3) Animal-derived food products like raw milk, fresh milk, yogurt, butter, cream, cheese;
4) Eggs and relevant products including fresh eggs, preserved eggs, salted eggs, egg liquid, eggshell, mayonnaise;
5) Cubilose (except the canned cubilose);
6) Fat like animal skin, animal fur, hoof, bone, horn, and relevant products;
7) Animal-derived feed (single feed like meat powder, bone powder, fish powder, whey powder, blood powder), animal-derived medical materials, and animal-derived fertilizer.
Plants and plant products:
1) Fresh fruits and vegetables;
2) Tobacco (except shredded tobacco);
3) Seeds (seedlings), young plants, or other materials that can reproduce;
4) Organic medium;
5) Other quarantine items;
6) Biological materials like fungus, poisonous species, pests, cells, organs, blood or products thereof;
7) Animal carcasses, specimens, animal-derived waste;
8) Soil;
9) Genetically modified biological materials;
10) Other animals, plants, and quarantine items are prohibited from entering the country.
Note:
1. Animals, plants, and other quarantine items enter the country with approval from relevant national administrative authorities, and a quarantine certificate issued by certain authorities are allowed;
2. Only one pet, dog, or cat, with the animal quarantine certificate and vaccination certificate issued by authorities of the exporting countries, is allowed for each person.
Regulations on Liquids
Passengers traveling on international and regional flights departing from China shall not carry more than 100ml of liquids per piece, and the containers of the liquid should have a volume less than 1L and be put in a transparent bag. Every passenger can only carry one transparent bag, and the excess should be declared.
Liquids include:
1. Drinks such as mineral water, beverages, soup, and syrups;
2. Cream, skin lotion, skin oil, perfume, and other cosmetics;
3. Spray, compression containers like shaving foam and deodorant spray;
4. Paste-like items like toothpaste;
5. Contact lens solution;
6. Gels like hair spray and gelatin;
7. Any items with a consistency similar to a liquid.
What can be put in your carry-on bag?
1. Medicine: only the quantity required for the journey (prescription or hospital certificate needed);
2. Baby food: only the things required for the journey such as milk powder, milk, and breast milk (with baby);
3. Non-liquid cosmetics: solid antiperspirants, lipsticks, makeup powders.
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