Prohibited Imports: arms, ammunition, and explosives; radio transmitter-receivers and capital parts; Chinese currency; information materials, which may be harmful to China’s politics, economy, culture, and ethics (e.g. pornographic or religious content); venomous drugs and narcotics; infected animal or plants; infected food products.
Import Documentation: certificate or origin, customs declaration, bill of lading, sales contract, commercial invoice, packing list.
Additional import documentation (if required): import permits and Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine inspection (AQSIQ) clearance. Very often this clearance is on the basis of export certificates from the relevant agencies in the countries of origin.
Import Tariffs
China charges tariffs on the majority of imported goods, primarily ad valorem. The tariffs are assessed on the transaction value of the products, including packing charges, freight, insurance reward and other service charges that were paid before unloading of the products at the destination. Some tariffs were reduced since China entered WTO. The average tariff fell from 15.3% to 9.9%.
The General Administration of Customs controls the tariff and publishes new tariff schedule each year .
Value added tax (on the majority of goods) and consumption tax (on a number of goods) are also assessed. The normal VAT rate ranges from 17% to 13% for some goods. Importers tobacco, liquor, cosmetics etc. have to pay consumption tax at a rate 3% or 45%.
Labeling Requirements
China Inspection and Quarantine (CIQ) inspects import labels at the point of entry. CIQ have to verify labels of packaged goods before they are imported and sold into China. This procedure takes from 7 to 14 days. The important item of the verification of labelling: completion of the Application Form of Import Food Labelling Verification; brief explanation of the original English label in Chinese. According to the National Standard of the Labelling of Foods (GB7718-1994), the label should include such details: certificate of origin, registration information and qualifications of dealers, samples of Chinese label, sample of product for examination.
Labels of imported products must contain: name and brand, components, net weight and solid content, name, contacts of the producer, date of manufacturing and shelf life, storage instructions, name and address of packer (distributor), lot number, country of origin, service instructions and quality guarantee and storage period. | 
