China Customs Compliance Guide

Practical China customs and import compliance — designed for foreign businesses making high-stakes entry decisions.

1. Who this is for

This site is designed for:

• Foreign brands preparing to enter the China market
• Cross-border e-commerce sellers assessing CBEC feasibility
• Food, cosmetics, pet food, and medical device companies testing regulatory boundaries
• Founders, operators, advisors, and investors evaluating China compliance risk

2. What decisions this site helps you make

This site helps you make informed China market entry and import compliance decisions before execution, including:

• Understanding how China customs and import rules affect real business models
• Identifying regulatory risks before shipping, registration, or inventory commitment
• Choosing the least risky and most realistic entry path (CBEC vs general trade)
• Knowing when public guidance is sufficient — and when it is not

The focus is decision clarity, not operational execution.

3. How to use this site

This site is designed to be used in layers:

• Start with the relevant Compliance Playbook to understand structural feasibility and regulatory risk.
• If your case involves uncertainty, edge conditions, or conflicting guidance, use a Second Opinion Review.
• If decisions require coordination, interpretation, or responsibility, proceed to Private Consultation.

4. Compliance Playbooks (decision frameworks)

Use the playbooks below to evaluate feasibility, structural risk, and entry decisions before execution.

Each playbook focuses on a specific regulatory decision category:

• China Import Tax & Duty Decision Playbook
• China Cross-Border E-commerce (CBEC) Compliance Playbook
• Food Import Compliance Playbook
• Infant Formula & Dairy Products Market Entry Playbook
• Cosmetics Market Entry Playbook
• Pet Food Import Compliance Playbook
• Medical Device Import Compliance Playbook

These playbooks are designed to help you understand what is possible, what is risky, and what assumptions may be incorrect — not to provide step-by-step execution instructions.

5. Second Opinion Reviews (optional)

If you already have a proposed product, entry path, or compliance approach — but remain uncertain — a Second Opinion Review may be appropriate.

Second Opinion Reviews focus on:

• Structural feasibility under public rules
• Key regulatory risk areas
• Assumptions that may require reassessment
• Situations where caution, delay, or pivot is recommended

Available Second Opinion Review categories align with the playbooks above.

6. When private consultation may be appropriate

If your situation involves:

• Product-specific or category-specific regulatory uncertainty
• Market access eligibility concerns
• Timing-sensitive entry or scale decisions
• Transition from CBEC to general trade
• Significant budget or inventory commitment

A private, compliance-focused consultation may be more appropriate.

Private consultations are limited and reviewed before acceptance.

They support decision-making, not execution or regulatory negotiation.

7. Who this is NOT for

This site is not intended for:

• Those seeking loopholes, guarantees, or unofficial shortcuts
• Businesses intentionally avoiding compliance obligations
• One-off shipments or opportunistic gray-channel activity