China customs field guide
What Can I Bring to China? Customs Item Checker
Check common medicines, food, cash, alcohol, electronics and pets before entering China, then see what to declare and what evidence to carry.
Use the checker above for a first decision, then read the matching section below. It is designed for a visitor carrying personal luggage into mainland China. It does not replace a ruling by China Customs, and it is not a guide for commercial imports, unaccompanied baggage, mail or cargo.
The customs decision in three questions
Ask these questions in order:
- Is the item prohibited or subject to quarantine control? Fresh produce, meat products, seeds and live animals require the most caution.
- Is it clearly for personal use and in a reasonable quantity? Ten identical new devices look different from one phone and one camera you are using.
- Does it cross a declaration threshold? Cash, alcohol, tobacco and goods that will remain in China have specific thresholds in the passenger declaration guide.
If the first answer is yes, leave the item at home unless you have confirmed an official permit route. If the second or third answer is uncertain, declare it rather than trying to guess at the green channel.
Medicine: usually manageable, but document it
For an ordinary short trip, bring only the amount you reasonably need. Keep medicine in the pharmacy box or bottle with the label visible. A prescription, doctor’s letter or medication list should show the generic name, dosage and medical need. A bilingual document is helpful, but a clear document in English is better than no evidence.
Take extra care with narcotic, psychotropic, injectable, refrigerated or cannabis-derived products. A medicine that is legal at home is not automatically unrestricted in China. Ask the Chinese embassy or China Customs before departure when the active ingredient is controlled.
Practical packing:
- Put essential medicine in your carry-on, subject to aviation liquid and security rules.
- Bring the prescription and a small contingency supply, not a suitcase of loose tablets.
- Do not combine different pills in an unlabelled organizer for border inspection.
- If a family member carries medicine for someone else, keep the patient’s documents with it.
Food: “sealed” is not the same as “allowed”
Factory-sealed biscuits, chocolate, tea and ordinary packaged snacks are lower-risk than fresh or homemade food, but ingredients still matter. A sealed meat snack can remain a meat product. A mooncake can contain egg yolk or meat. A soup mix can contain dried meat.
Leave these at home unless you have confirmed the official permit or quarantine route:
- fresh fruit and vegetables;
- raw or cooked meat and meat products;
- eggs and many egg products;
- milk and many dairy products;
- seeds, seedlings, soil and plants;
- live animals and biological material without the required documents.
If a packaged food contains an animal or plant ingredient you cannot identify, declare it or leave it behind. Do not rely on “I bought it at an airport” as proof that it can enter China.
Alcohol, tobacco and cash
China Customs’ passenger guide lists declaration thresholds. A passenger should use the declaration channel when carrying:
| Item | Threshold named in the official passenger guide |
|---|---|
| Alcohol | 1,500 ml or more of alcoholic drinks at 12% ABV or above |
| Cigarettes | 400 or more |
| Cigars | 100 or more |
| Tobacco | 500 g or more |
| Renminbi cash | RMB 20,000 or more |
| Foreign-currency cash | The equivalent of US$5,000 or more |
These are declaration thresholds, not a promise that every quantity below them is always exempt or unrestricted. Your route, residency status, age and the nature of the goods can matter. For cash, keep bank or exchange records when the amount is substantial.
Phones, cameras, laptops and gifts
A visitor’s used phone, laptop, camera and ordinary travel accessories normally look like personal belongings. Problems are more likely when you carry several identical sealed products, high-value equipment that will remain in China, or goods intended for sale.
China Customs asks non-resident passengers to declare personal articles intended to remain in China when their total value is RMB 2,000 or more. A gift that stays in China is not the same as a camera you will take home.
For professional equipment, prepare a list with serial numbers and proof that the equipment will leave China. Drones, radio transmitters and satellite equipment also face flight, radio and local security rules after customs.
Power banks belong in carry-on baggage
Customs and aviation security are different checks. A power bank may be fine to enter China but still fail an airline or airport rule. Keep power banks in the cabin, protect the terminals, and make sure the capacity marking is readable. If you will take a domestic flight in China, read the China Power Bank / 3C Checker before relying on a battery bought overseas.
One pet dog or cat is a document-heavy exception
China’s official inbound quarantine list provides a route for one pet dog or cat per passenger when the required quarantine certificate, rabies vaccination certificate and other conditions are met. Arrival port and origin-country status affect the process. This is not a “show the pet passport and walk through” situation.
Confirm the current requirements with China Customs and your airline well before travel. Other animals should not be treated as ordinary passenger baggage.
Red channel or green channel?
Use the green channel only when you have nothing to declare and your items are ordinary personal effects in reasonable quantities. Use the red channel when you exceed a threshold, carry restricted goods, bring items that will stay in China, or simply cannot determine the status.
At inspection, do not hide the item at the bottom of your bag. Show the packaging and documents, explain who will use it and whether it will leave China. Customs officers make the final decision, which can include release, taxation, quarantine treatment, return, surrender or seizure.
Five common packing mistakes
- Treating “for myself” as a universal exemption. Personal use helps, but it does not legalize prohibited goods.
- Removing labels to save space. That makes medicine and food harder to identify.
- Assuming duty-free purchases bypass arrival rules. They do not.
- Splitting a commercial quantity between family suitcases. Quantity and circumstances can still be assessed together.
- Using an old social-media list as the final rule. Ingredients, thresholds and enforcement guidance change; check the official source close to departure.
Before you close the suitcase
- Run each uncertain item through the checker.
- Photograph labels, receipts and prescriptions.
- Keep documents available offline.
- Put restricted or declarable items where they are easy to show.
- Recheck airline rules for liquids, batteries and cabin baggage.
- If the official material does not answer your exact case, contact China Customs before travel and declare on arrival.
Related guides
- China Power Bank / 3C Checker
- China travel without a Chinese phone number
- First-time China travel checklist
- China arrival card guide