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Importing into China

How China taxes ecommerce orders and parcels from abroad: the RMB 5,000 and RMB 26,000 limits, the 70% tax rule and the 13%, 20% and 50% parcel rates.

Updated · 6 official sources

An online order shipped to a consumer in China is taxed in one of two ways. Through China's cross-border ecommerce retail import channel, it pays 0% duty and 70% of the normal import VAT and consumption tax, within limits of RMB 5,000 per order and RMB 26,000 per buyer a year. Sent as a personal parcel instead, it pays one composite tax of 13%, 20% or 50%, and nothing at all when that tax comes to RMB 50 or less.

Rules as of 30 October 2026.

Which channel does a parcel to China go through?#

China treats cross-border ecommerce retail imports and personal parcels as separate channels, and the channel decides the tax. Ecommerce retail imports are orders on platforms connected to Chinese customs, which receive the order, payment and logistics data before clearance. Personal parcels are mail or express items for the recipient's own use, a category that excludes ecommerce retail goods.

Cross-border ecommerce retail import Personal parcel (mail or express)
Who uses it Sellers on platforms connected to customs Private senders and recipients, for personal use
Value limit RMB 5,000 per order, RMB 26,000 per buyer per year RMB 2,000 per parcel, or one indivisible item worth more
Duty 0% within the limits Part of one composite rate
Import VAT and consumption tax 70% of the amount normally due Part of one composite rate
Tax-free amount None Tax of RMB 50 or less is waived
Who pays The buyer, with the platform, logistics or ecommerce company collecting The recipient

The parcel route is for personal use only. China's measures limit the tax-free treatment of parcels to the recipient's own use, never commercial use, and tax goods beyond a reasonable personal quantity as ordinary imports.

How much tax does a cross-border ecommerce order pay?#

A cross-border ecommerce order to China within the limits pays no customs duty, and pays import VAT and consumption tax at 70% of the amount normally due. The taxable value is the actual transaction price, including the retail price, freight and insurance. No amount is tax free: the 2016 rules removed the VAT and consumption tax exemption threshold.

China's standard import VAT rate is in the table below. Consumption tax only applies to a defined list of products. The consumer goods on it are the ones in the 50% parcel category further down, such as alcohol, tobacco, precious jewelry, high-end watches, high-end cosmetics and batteries.

Standard import VAT in China and its neighbors

Country Tax Standard rate Since Official source
China VAT 13% fgk.chinatax.gov.cn
South Korea VAT 10%
Japan VAT 10% nta.go.jp
Taiwan VAT 5%
Hong Kong No live data

border.bot live data from each country's official publications, updated 2026-10-11

Here is one order worked through. A shop in France sells a jacket for RMB 800 and charges RMB 50 shipping to a buyer in Shanghai, through a platform connected to customs.

Line Calculation Amount
Taxable value RMB 800 + RMB 50 RMB 850.00
Duty 0% within the limits RMB 0.00
Import VAT at the full rate 13% of RMB 850 RMB 110.50
Import VAT collected 70% of RMB 110.50 RMB 77.35

The limits are what keep the order in the channel. An order above RMB 5,000 can still use the channel if it contains only one item and the buyer is still under the RMB 26,000 annual limit, but it then pays full duty, VAT and consumption tax at the rates for ordinary goods, and the value still counts toward the buyer's annual total. Once a buyer passes RMB 26,000 for the year, further goods go through ordinary trade.

The ecommerce tax policy only applies to products on the Cross-border E-commerce Retail Import Commodity List, a 2019 edition adjusted by the Ministry of Finance and seven other departments from 1 March 2022. Check your product against it, or have your platform do so, before you list. The landed cost calculator gives the full price to a buyer in China for a real product.

What does a personal parcel to China pay?#

A personal parcel to China pays one composite rate covering duty, import VAT and consumption tax, charged on a taxable price customs sets from the actual purchase price. The Customs Tariff Commission's measures for inbound articles, in force since 1 December 2024, apply to parcels worth RMB 2,000 or less, or holding one indivisible item worth more.

Category What it covers Composite rate
1 Books, periodicals and educational audio-visual material; computers, digital cameras, video cameras and other IT products; food and non-alcoholic drinks; gold and silver; furniture; toys, games and festive goods; medicines 13%
2 Sports goods (except golf), fishing gear; textiles and made-up textile articles; bicycles; anything not in category 1 or 3 20%
3 Tobacco and alcoholic drinks; precious jewelry and gems; golf balls and equipment; high-end watches; high-end cosmetics; batteries 50%

When the tax due on a parcel is RMB 50 or less, customs releases it free of tax. A RMB 300 book is in category 1, so the tax is RMB 39 and nothing is collected. A RMB 800 jacket is in category 2, so the tax is RMB 160. The tax is due before release, though couriers and postal operators can get parcels released first against a tax guarantee.

Batteries sit in the 50% category, so a parcel of power banks or spare batteries costs the recipient far more than other electronics would.

What information does the buyer give?#

On China's cross-border ecommerce channel, the platform or the seller's domestic agent must check that each order is genuine and that the buyer's identity details are true. If no authority has verified the identity, the person ordering and the person paying must be the same. The buyer is the taxpayer; the platform, logistics or declaring company collects the tax.

Before customs gets the declaration, the platform or domestic agent, the payment company and the logistics company each send their part of the order, payment and logistics data, and each is responsible for its accuracy. A seller based outside China can't register with customs directly: it appoints a domestic agent, which registers with the customs office where it is located. Using someone else's identity to buy through the channel is handled by customs as a smuggling offence.

For a personal parcel, the recipient is the taxpayer, declares the parcel and accepts inspection.

Do goods from the United States pay extra?#

Goods originating in the United States pay an additional tariff on entering China. Since 13:01 Beijing time on 10 November 2025, the Customs Tariff Commission has kept a 10% additional tariff on US-origin imports and suspended a further 24% for one year. The suspension's year ends in November 2026, so the rate after that depends on the Commission's next announcement.

Origin, not the shipping address, decides this. A product made in the US and shipped from a warehouse in Europe is still of US origin. The country of origin guide explains how origin is decided.

Tips for sellers shipping to China#

China works best for sellers who choose their channel on purpose and keep each order inside its limits. The channel sets the tax, the goods category sets the parcel rate, and the buyer's identity has to check out, so settle each of those before you list products for buyers in mainland China.

  • Sell through a platform or domestic agent connected to customs if you want 0% duty and the 70% tax rate, and check each product against the commodity list first.
  • Keep orders under RMB 5,000, and remember the taxable value includes the shipping you charge.
  • Show the tax in the checkout price, because the buyer is the taxpayer and the platform collects it.
  • Don't split retail orders into personal parcels: the parcel rules are for personal use only.
  • Classify carefully. Whether a parcel lands in the 13%, 20% or 50% category depends on what the goods are, and the HS code classifier gives you a code to start from.

How China compares with other countries' tax-free lines is in the de minimis guide, and the China country page has the live data border.bot uses.

Common questions#

Is there a duty-free limit for parcels to China?#

For personal parcels, yes: when the tax due is RMB 50 or less, customs waives it. Cross-border ecommerce orders have no tax-free amount, but pay 0% duty and 70% of the normal VAT and consumption tax.

What are the cross-border ecommerce limits in China?#

RMB 5,000 per order and RMB 26,000 per buyer per year. A single-item order above RMB 5,000 can use the channel within the annual limit, but pays full duty and taxes.

What tax rate does a personal parcel to China pay?#

13%, 20% or 50%, depending on the category of the goods. The rate combines duty, VAT and consumption tax into one charge.

Can I send goods to China as a gift to avoid tax?#

Only genuine personal-use items qualify for the parcel treatment. Goods for sale, or quantities beyond reasonable personal use, are taxed as ordinary imports.

Sources#