Your household goods to China: the first shipment duty-free, but twenty kinds of goods always taxed

Yes, you can take your household goods to China, and the first shipment is in principle duty-free. But two rules make it less simple than it sounds. Customs only handles your application once you have a residence permit, so your container waits in the port for your papers. And twenty kinds of goods always remain taxed, even in that first shipment: computers, televisions, audio equipment, furniture and lamps are among them. Exactly the things you most want to bring.

Who may import belongings duty-free?

Chinese customs calls you a long-term non-resident passenger: a foreigner living in China with police permission, for at least a year in a row. For that group:

• personal belongings in a reasonable quantity for own use may be imported;
• you submit a written application to customs for this, yourself or through a recognised declaration company;
• customs issues an approval certificate, on the basis of which customs at the point of entry releases the shipment;
• you can only apply once you have the residence permit.

What	Rule
First shipment of personal belongings	duty-free, except vehicles and the 20 kinds below
Later shipments	subject to import duties
The 20 kinds of goods	always taxed: import duties, import VAT and excise where applicable
A car	only for a certain group of long-term residents, one per person, and taxed

Which twenty kinds of goods are always taxed?

Since 1 January 1995 everyone importing these goods pays import duties and import VAT, including long-term residents who bring them along. The list comes from a customs announcement of late 1994 and is still listed as in force:

Category	What falls under it
Sound and vision	televisions, video cameras, video recorders and players, audio equipment
Household	air conditioners, fridges and freezers, washing machines
Office and communication	cameras, photocopiers, telephone exchanges, computers, telephones, paging systems, fax machines, calculators, typewriters and word processors
Furnishing	furniture, lamps
Other	food ingredients

So ask your mover for a packing list that shows per box what is inside, and weigh it up in advance: for an old sofa or a second television you may pay more in tax than it is worth.

Don't ship too early. Because customs only handles your application once your residence permit is in, a container that arrives before you sits in the port. You apply for the residence permit in China within thirty days of arrival, and the decision takes up to fifteen working days. So plan the shipment around your own arrival and those deadlines, and ask your mover what storage in the port costs.

What do you declare when you land yourself?

If you have something to declare on entry, you fill in the customs declaration form and choose the red channel. For someone moving, this matters most:

What	When to declare
Personal belongings that stay in China	from a value of ¥ 2,000, for foreigners
Cash	from ¥ 20,000 in yuan, or foreign currency from USD 5,000
Alcohol	from 1,500 ml (from 12% alcohol)
Cigarettes	from 400
Animals and plants, and products of them	always
Unaccompanied baggage	always

Keep the stamped form: customs may ask for it again when you leave. If you bring more than USD 5,000 in foreign currency and want to take it out again later, fill in two forms; you get one back stamped for your departure.

And medicines?

Ordinary medicines for your own use may come along in a reasonable quantity. For narcotic drugs and Category I psychotropic substances there is a hard limit: at most the quantity of one Chinese prescription. For most of these medicines that is at most three days, for slow-release forms seven days, and for methylphenidate for children with ADHD fifteen days. Bring the prescription, medical records or a doctor's statement and declare it proactively at customs. More on this in medicines across the border.

A pet does not travel as household goods; it has its own route, see your pet to China. What the move costs in total is in the cost indication on /china.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 4 of 5 of the journey, step 4.1: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to China or go straight to step 4.1 in the open plan.