よくある質問
Do I need to fill a customs declaration form when entering China?
Only if you have something to declare. Under GACC Announcement No. 43 of 2025 (effective April 1, 2025), travelers with nothing to declare walk straight through the green channel — no form. If you carry items that must be declared, you file a declaration form (paper or electronic — both have equal legal effect) and pass through the red channel.
How much cash can I bring into China without declaring?
Up to RMB 20,000 in Chinese yuan, or foreign currency up to USD 5,000 equivalent (per-traveler; the exact equivalent for less common currencies follows customs' published limits). Above those lines, declare it — undeclared excess cash is the most common cause of red-channel problems, and it can be confiscated or fined.
How do I file the customs declaration electronically?
Through the official channels announced with the 43rd Announcement: the "Customs Fingertip Service" mini program (海关进出境人员指尖服务) in WeChat or Alipay, or the web portal at npc.chinaport.gov.cn. Pre-fill the declaration form before your flight, then confirm the data and get inspected at the customs declaration counter when you pass the red channel. Electronic filings and paper forms carry the same legal effect.
What happens if I don't declare something I should have?
It depends on severity: duties can be recovered with late fees, goods may be confiscated, and deliberate concealment of restricted or high-value goods is handled as smuggling — which can mean criminal liability, not just a fine. If you realize mid-channel that you missed something, walk to a customs officer and declare before being stopped; voluntary disclosure is treated far more leniently.
Is there still a health declaration for entering China?
There is no routine COVID-era health card anymore. Two things remain: the standard obligation to declare items relevant to public health (used syringes, biological samples, certain foods), and since September 3, 2026, travelers arriving from polio-affected countries or regions who have persistent fever or limb pain symptoms must proactively report to customs quarantine on arrival.
Can I bring gifts for friends in China through the green channel?
If their total value stays within the duty-free allowance — for resident travelers, personal self-use goods acquired abroad worth up to RMB 5,000 — yes. Gifts above the allowance, or any single item that clearly needs taxing, belong in a declaration. Tobacco and alcohol carry their own separate quantity limits regardless of value; check customs.gov.cn's traveler guide for the current figures before you pack.
Quick Summary: China’s customs declaration got a structural refresh on April 1, 2025: one declaration form (paper or electronic), a clear red/green channel split, and official e-filing in the Customs Fingertip Service mini program. Here’s what triggers a declaration, the cash and duty-free lines, and how to pre-file before you land.
The framework is new (April 2025): GACC Announcement No. 43 of 2025 and Order No. 276 replaced the 1989-era rules — one unified declaration form, electronic filing with equal legal effect, and codified red/green channel logic. Older guides describing separate entry/exit forms are out of date.
Red channel or green channel
- Green channel (无申报通道): you carry nothing that requires declaration — no form, walk through. Random checks still happen, so “nothing to declare” must be true, not convenient.
- Red channel (申报通道): you file the Declaration Form for Baggage Items of Inbound/Outbound Travelers — on paper or electronically, same effect — and a customs officer inspects against it at the counter.
The channels exist at ports that handle them; at smaller crossings without dual channels, follow posted instructions and ask an officer when unsure.
What triggers a declaration
| Trigger | The line in practice |
|---|---|
| Cash and monetary instruments | More than RMB 20,000 in yuan cash, or foreign currency cash exceeding USD 5,000 equivalent; also negotiable securities and gold in reportable quantities. |
| Goods over the duty-free allowance | Items you’ll leave in China beyond the duty-free line — resident travelers: personal goods acquired abroad worth more than RMB 5,000 in total, or any single item taxed separately; non-resident visitors (most foreign travellers): items you plan to leave in China worth more than RMB 2,000 — Customs Announcement 2010 No. 54 sets both lines. Splitting one expensive purchase across family members doesn’t change this. |
| Restricted and controlled items | Animals, plants and their products; restricted exports/imports (certain medicines, cultural relics, high-value metals); radio transmitters; anything on the prohibited lists in either direction. |
| Commercial-quantity or resale goods | Quantities, packaging or item types that a customs officer could reasonably read as trade goods rather than personal use. |
The table covers the practical triggers travelers hit. The full legal list is in the Announcement and Order No. 276 — when in doubt, declare; unnecessary declarations cost a few minutes, missed ones cost real money.
Prescription medication: the common gray zone
Personal-use medication is the item category foreigners most often worry about, and the rules are friendlier than the anxiety suggests:
- Personal-use medication in original packaging, with the prescription, in a quantity reasonable for your stay travels the green channel — it is not a declarable item in ordinary quantities.
- “Reasonable quantity” means the duration of your trip plus a small buffer, not a year’s supply.
- Check controlled ingredients before you fly. Some medications common abroad — certain ADHD medications, codeine-containing syrups, some painkillers — are controlled or prohibited in China. See our dedicated guides: Prohibited and Restricted Medications and Can I Bring Adderall to China?
- Documentation that helps: original packaging with the pharmacy label, the prescription itself, and a doctor’s letter stating your name, the medication, dosage and condition. A Chinese translation isn’t formally required, but it shortens any inspection conversation. If you take a controlled medication, carry the paperwork and use the red channel to declare it — declaring a legal personal-use medication costs minutes.
- Stuck on a specific item? Call the China Customs hotline 12360 or check english.customs.gov.cn before you fly.
How to pre-file electronically
Three entrances, one form:
- “Customs Fingertip Service” mini program (海关进出境人员指尖服务) in WeChat or Alipay — the mobile route most travelers use.
- The web portal at npc.chinaport.gov.cn — same form, no mini program needed.
- Paper form at the red channel — always available as the fallback.
File before boarding, then on arrival confirm your data at the customs declaration counter and take the inspection. The electronic record is your declaration — keep the confirmation until you’re through.
Health quarantine in 2026
The pandemic-era blanket health declaration is gone. What remains is targeted: travelers arriving from polio-affected countries or regions who have persistent fever or limb pain symptoms must proactively report to customs quarantine (advisory effective September 3, 2026), and items with public-health relevance belong on your declaration regardless.
Drones: Declaration and Flying Rules
Bringing a drone? Handle it in two steps: declare it at customs, then register it before you fly.
Declare it at the red channel. No customs rule names drones specifically, but the standard triggers catch them: a brand-new drone is a single item that often clears the duty-free line, and radio-equipped controlled gear sits squarely in the “declare when in doubt” lane — the same form, the same counter. If it’s your own drone and you’ll carry it back out when you leave, say so at the counter: the baggage rules allow temporarily imported items to be declared with a guarantee and re-exported against that record (Order No. 276, Art. 13). Last verified 2026-10-01.
Register it on CAAC’s UOM platform. Under the Interim Regulations on the Flight Management of Unmanned Aircraft (State Council & CMC Order No. 761, effective January 1, 2024), every civil drone owner must complete real-name registration (Art. 10) on CAAC’s UOM platform at uom.caac.gov.cn (民用无人驾驶航空器综合管理平台). Foreign travelers are not locked out: the registration form accepts passport as the ID type — non-ID-card registrations go through a manual review before the account activates (verified in UOM’s own registration flow, 2026-10-01). Flying unregistered is cheap-looking until it isn’t: police can order correction with a fine up to RMB 200, rising to RMB 2,000–20,000 for serious cases (Art. 47).
Then mind the map. Consumer drones are classed as micro (under 250 g) or light (up to 4 kg empty / 7 kg takeoff) — most travel drones are one of these. Controlled airspace includes everything above 120 m (394 ft) above ground level, plus airports and their surroundings, border areas, military and other sensitive facilities, and key infrastructure — with exact zones published by city governments (Art. 19). Outside those zones, micro and light drones may fly without a permit; inside them, you need air-traffic approval first. Flying a micro/light drone in controlled airspace without approval: ordered to land with a fine up to RMB 500, or confiscation plus RMB 1,000–10,000 if serious (Art. 47). No pilot license is required for micro/light drones, but you’re expected to actually know how to fly yours — and big-event cities (think national holidays) extend controlled airspace on short notice, so re-check before each flight.
Source & verification
- General Administration of Customs — 海关总署关于进出境人员行李物品申报有关事宜的公告 (Announcement No. 43 of 2025, effective 2025-04-01) with the policy interpretation: customs.gov.cn
- GACC Order No. 276 — 海关进出境行李物品监管办法 (Measures for the Administration of Baggage Items of Inbound and Outbound Travelers, effective 2025-04-01, replacing the 1989 measures)
- Customs traveler service portal — electronic declaration web channel: npc.chinaport.gov.cn; GACC polio quarantine advisory (effective 2026-09-03)
- CAAC Civil Unmanned Aircraft Comprehensive Management Platform (UOM) — official real-name registration portal: uom.caac.gov.cn
- Interim Regulations on the Flight Management of Unmanned Aircraft — 国务院令第761号 (State Council & CMC Order No. 761, published 2023-06-28, effective 2024-01-01): gov.cn
Last verified: 2026-10-05. Channel logic, declaration form and e-filing channels are transcribed from Announcement No. 43 and its interpretation; duty-free lines (resident RMB 5,000 / non-resident RMB 2,000 per Announcement 2010 No. 54) and cash figures are the standard traveler lines as published in customs’ official guidance — local officers apply them on site, and their reading prevails. Drone rules (registration, classification, airspace, penalties) are transcribed from Order No. 761’s official text and the UOM platform itself; local police and air-traffic authorities apply them on site.