China Customs publishes its prohibited list on the same page as its clearance instructions. The channel rules turn on quantity and value. The prohibited list turns on category, and declaring an item on that list does not move it off the list.
Seven categories, prohibited on import
China Customs sets out seven categories of “Articles Prohibited from Importation”:
- “Arms, imitation arms, ammunition and explosives of all kinds.”
- “Counterfeit currencies and counterfeit negotiable securities.”
- “Printed matter, films, photographs, gramophone records, cinematographic films, loaded recording tapes and video tapes, compact discs (video and audio), storage media for computers and other articles which are detrimental to the political, economic, cultural and moral interests of China.”
- “Deadly poison of all kinds.”
- “Opium, morphine, heroin, marihuana and other addictive drugs and psychotropic substances.”
- “Fruits, solanaceae vegetables, live animals (except dogs and cats as pet), animal products, pathogenic micro-organisms of animals and plants, pests and other harmful organisms, animal carcasses, soil, genetically modified organisms, relevant animals and plants, their products and other objects subject to quarantine from countries or regions with prevalent epidemic animal or plant diseases.”
- “Foodstuff, medicine and other articles coming from epidemic stricken area or harmful to man and livestock or those which might spread disease.”
“Imitation arms” is meant literally. A replica or a convincing prop sits on the same line as the real thing.
The third category turns on content. The phrase “storage media for computers” puts what is on a laptop or a phone in the same frame as a printed book.
What counts as detrimental content
A separate China Customs page says what those contents are. Prints and audiovisual products are prohibited from entry if they contain any of four things:
- “Any content against the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China; calumniating the current state policies; defaming the Communist Party of China and state leaders; inciting subversion and sabotage of the People’s Republic of China and discording among the Chinese ethnic groups; and advocating ‘two Chinas’ or ‘Taiwan independence’”
- “Detailed descriptions of sexual behavior or pornography”
- “Propagation of superstitions or homicide and violence”
- “Other contents harmful to the politics, economy, culture and morality of the People’s Republic of China.”
The fourth item is open-ended. The page carries a date of 26 August 2005 on the site itself. (China Customs, What Prints and Audiovisual Products Are Prohibited from Entry?)
Quarantine is where most travellers meet the list
The sixth category above ends with “from countries or regions with prevalent epidemic animal or plant diseases”. The sentence alone does not settle whether that qualifier covers the whole list or only the item before it.
A Chinese Consulate-General page lists the quarantine prohibitions on their own, with no country qualifier. Objects prohibited from being carried into China include:
- “Fruits, peppers, eggplant and tomatoes”
- “Eggs, raw hides and skin, hair, hoofs, fat or oil, animal meat(including viscera)and its products, fresh milk, cheese, butter, cream, whey powder, silkworm chrysalis, silkworm eggs, animal blood and its products, and aquatic animal products”
- “Human blood and the products thereof”
- “Animal carcasses and specimens”
- “Soil”
- “Genetically Modified Organisms”
- “Waste and used clothes”
If you carry any of them, the page says to “hand them over to the inspection and quarantine officials or dispose of them into the quarantine bin.”
This is the list that takes fruit and cured meat out of a carry-on bag. The consulate page is dated 2007 on the site, so treat it as the detailed reading of the current customs categories. It is not a current catalogue. (Consulate-General of the PRC in Sydney, Information on Carrying Objects into China)
Restricted rather than banned
Several categories are declarable instead of prohibited, and the mechanism is the red channel. China Customs requires inward passengers to take the “GOODS TO DECLARE” channel for “Animals and plants, animal and plant products, microbes, biological products, human tissues, blood and blood products” and for “Radio transmitters, radio receivers, communication security equipments”.
The quantity thresholds are published: “1,500ml or above of alcoholic drinks (containing 12% or above alcoholic content); 400 sticks or above of cigarettes; 100 sticks or above of cigars; 500g or above of tobacco.”
Two value thresholds sit beside them, depending on who you are. The red channel applies to:
- “Personal articles from overseas, valued at RMB5,000 or above, carried by Chinese residents”
- “Personal articles intended to remain in the territory, valued at RMB2,000 or above, carried by non-Chinese residents.”
For both, “The exceeding part or amount (subject to reasonable personal use) above the limitation set by the Customs shall be levied duty upon.”
The consulate page adds plant and animal items that are admissible with a declaration, including “Seeds, nursery stocks and other propagation materials, tobacco leaves, cereals, and beans”, which it says “require pre-entry quarantine permit”, plus fresh, cut and dried flowers, “Nuts, dried vegetables, pickled vegetables and frozen vegetables”, and “Bamboo, rattan, willow, straw and wooden handcrafts”. Pets are on that same declarable list: “Each passenger is allowed to carry only one pet, bearing rabies vaccination certificate and health certificate issued by the competent quarantine authorities of the departing country or region.”
The two currency figures differ
Both appear in one red-channel row: “RMB20,000 cash or above, or any other foreign currencies in cash equivalent to US$5,000 or above.” The consequences behind them differ.
Renminbi is capped. The exchange control section says: “The limit of RMB allowed to bring in or take out is 20,000 yuan. The exceeding part is prohibited.” Declaring 30,000 yuan does not make 30,000 yuan admissible.
Foreign currency is not capped. “There are no quantitative restrictions imposed on the foreign currencies, traveler’s checks, or letters of credit brought in.” Above US$5,000 there is a reporting duty, plus a procedure for getting the money out again. Passengers “carrying foreign currencies in cash worth more than US$5,000 and intending to take the currencies out of China in the future shall fill out two declaration forms”, one of which is returned endorsed for use on departure.
Skipping that step costs you on the way out. Where there is no declaration record from the last entry, or the recorded amount is lower than what you are carrying, Customs “shall release the discrepancies upon certificate issued by the Foreign Exchange Bureau or its authorized banks”. That is a bank errand you would rather not discover at the airport.
The stated consequence of breaking the currency rules is broad: “Passengers fail to observe the exchange regulation are subject to the administrative penalty fine or even get their currencies confiscated.”
One wording gap on the page
The red-channel table sets the foreign-currency trigger at “US$5,000 or above”. The exchange control section further down sets it at “more than 5,000 U.S. dollars”. At exactly US$5,000 the two sentences disagree. Declaring it settles the question in your favour.
What the source does not publish
- E-cigarettes and vaping devices. The clearance guide gives quantities for cigarettes, cigars and tobacco and says nothing about them, so there is no figure to quote.
- Penalty amounts. The China Customs page on failing to declare says only that Customs “will impose penalty on the passenger in accordance with the Customs Law of the People’s Republic of China and the Regulations of the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China on Implementing Administrative Penalties”, with no sum or range.
- A current quarantine catalogue. The itemised list above comes from a consulate page, because the customs site does not publish one in English. The categories are consistent across both sources and can be relied on. If you are carrying food, plant material, an animal product or a pet, confirm the specifics with the Chinese embassy or consulate for the country you are flying from before you pack.
How much you can bring duty free
That is a separate question from what you may not bring. Three countries in the region answer it with zero cigarettes. The duty-free side of the same border has the published figures for the rest.