Statistics China imports - market opportunities 

• Statistics of most imported commodities imported to China by value.  in 2024 are focused on Top 9 main categories: (1) Mechanical & Electrical Products, (2) High-&-new-tech Products, (3) Fuels & Related Materials, (4) Integrated Circuit, (5) Crude Petroleum (value), (6) Agricultural Products, (7) Iron Ore & Concentrates, (8) Iron Ores & Concentrate, and  (9) Liquefied Petroleum Gas, etc.

• Food and drinks are categorized in separate China Imports by products specified as: Oil seed, oleagic fruits, grain, seed, fruits. Meat and edible meat offal. Fish, invertebrates, crustaceans, molluscs, aquatics. Edible fruits, nuts, peel of citrus fruit, melons. Animal, vegetable fats and oils, cleavage products, etc. China's major imports by quantity and value, April 2024, grain, soybeans, vegetable oil...Soybean is one of the most imported agricultural products in China.

• These statistics displays the magnitude of China imports by value ($) in 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022, 2023, and 2024 (Jan-July.). All statistics in this section come from China imports related source - China international trade. All databases on this section is for your reference only. About 2024 China imported commodities Statistics is available till July 2024, it will be updated at its completion.

• Why it matters? The Measures is formulated in accordance with the Customs Law of the People's Republic of China, Regulations on Customs Audit of the People’s Republic of China, Interim Regulations on Public Disclosure of Enterprise Information and other related laws and administrative regulations for the purposes of pressing ahead the development of social credit system, establishing import and export credit management of enterprises and promoting trade security and facilitation.

• Related to complex China imports tariff issues. The State Council shall formulate the Customs Import and Export Tariff of the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the Tariff) and the Flat Duty Rates on Inward Articles of the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the Flat Duty Rates on Inward Articles), providing for tariff items, tariff headings and duty rates, which constitute component parts of these Regulations.

• With Regulations effect your import to China business. These implementing Regulations are formulated in accordance with the provisions of the Customs Law of the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the Customs Law) and other related laws for the purposes of standardizing Customs administrative penalty, safeguarding the lawful exercise by the Customs of its functions and powers and protecting the lawful rights and interests of citizens, legal persons and other organizations.

On April 12, 2021, the GACC issued Decree No. 248 of Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on the Registration and Administration of Overseas Manufacturers of Imported Food (hereinafter referred to as the Administrative Regulations). The new Regulations into force on January 1, 2022.

The new Regulations introduces the risk management principles of the Food Safety Law, adopts the “official recommended registration” mode for overseas manufacturers of 18 categories of foods, and adopts the simplified “enterprise independent application” mode for overseas manufacturers of other foods other than the 18 categories, so as to further improve the efficiency of registration management.

The documents that need to be submitted under the “official recommended registration” mode are relatively complicated, while the application documents under the “enterprise independent application” mode are much simpler.

Meat and its products, casings, aquatic products, dairy products, edible bird’s nest and its products, bee products,
eggs and its products, edible fats and oils, stuffed pasta, edible grains, grain milling industrial products and malt, fresh and dehydrated vegetables, and dried beans, seasonings, nuts and seeds, dried fruits, unroasted coffee beans and cocoa beans, foods for special dietary uses, health food.

The reasons for implement the "official recommended registration" mode for 18 categories of foods: Based on the analysis of sources of food raw materials, production and processing technology, food safety historical data, consumer groups and consumption methods, combined with international practices, it is determined that overseas manufacturers of 18 categories of foods adopt the “official recommended registration” mode.

Understand the 18-digit registration number, please see the image here:

The competent authority of the country (region) where it is located should review and check the manufacturer recommended registration, and after confirming that it meets the registration requirements, recommend registration to the GACC and submit the following application documents:

- Recommendation letter from the competent authority of the country (region) where manufacturers are located.

- List of manufacturers and application of manufacturer registration.

- Manufacturer identification documents, such as business license issued by the competent authority of the country (region) where it is located.

- A statement recommended by the competent authority of the country (region) where the manufacturer meets the requirements of the regulations.

- The review report issued by the competent authority of the country (region) where the manufacturer is located for reviewing and checking the related manufacturers.

- If necessary, the GACC may request documents of the manufacturer’s food safety, hygiene and protection system, such as the floor plans of the manufacturer’s factory

   area, workshop and cold warehouse, as well as process flow diagrams.

** It should be noted that, if risk analysis or evidence shows that the risk of a certain type of food has changed,
the GACC may conduct registration methods and application documents for the corresponding food overseas manufacturers.
if the registration methods and application documents are otherwise agreed between the related countries (regions) and China, it should be implemented in accordance with the agreement of both parties.

According to Article 16 of the new “Administrative Regulations”, the validity period of registration of overseas manufacturer of imported food is 5 years.

The GACC, by itself or by entrusting related agencies to organize an evaluation team, conducts evaluation and review of overseas manufacturers of imported food applying for registration through written check, video check, on-site check and combinations thereof.

The GACC should, based on the evaluation and review, register the overseas manufacturer of imported food that meet requirements and give Chinese registration number, and notify the competent authority of the country (region) where it is located or the overseas manufacturer of imported food in writing; for those that do not meet requirements, they should not be registered, and the competent authority of the country (region) where they are located or the overseas manufacturers of imported food should be notified in writing.

The new “Administrative Regulations” supplemented a variety of evaluation and review forms such as written check, video check, and on-site check, and the review forms are more diverse and flexible.

If an overseas manufacturer of imported food needs to renew its registration, an application for registration renewal should be submitted to the GACC through the registration, application channel within 3 to 6 months before the expiration of the registration validity period. The application documents for registration renewal include:

The new “Administrative Regulations” relaxed the time for initiating registration renewal, from the previous need to initiate a renewal application one year before the expiration of the registration validity period to 3 to 6 months before the expiration of the validity period.

Note:  Although you already have a manufacturer registration number, however, you can't use this registration number to export other goods to China Customs. Different food categories need to apply for different types of China GACC registration, there are 3 types of GACC registration for Overseas Producers of imported food, each type of GACC registration process, application document requirements, time and cost are different.

The list of registered manufacturers can be queried on the website of the GACC at www.gacc.app. If you have completed the AQSIQ exporter registration number, you do not need to apply for the GACC exporter registration number again. AQSIQ and GACC share the exporter registration number in the database,

Note: AQSIQ will form an independent electronic pass system with China Customs and CIQ, responsible for all import and export declarations and inspections. Start running new institutions and electronic systems (Single Window E-Systems) on January 1, 2022.

Although you find your company's GACC registration number, in most cases, you still need to register again:

- If this GACC registration number is not registered by yourself recently, you need to re-register in the new GACC system.

- If this GACC registration number was registered by yourself in the AQSIQ system before, but the AQSIQ user ID and password can log in to the new GACC system, then

   you need to re-register in the new GACC system.

- If your product belongs to the 18 risky food categories specified by GACC 248 Degree, you also need to apply for the GACC recommended registration process

   separately.

Different type GACC registration have different cost and timeline: 

1). General GACC registration for exporters is about $300, time about 2 weeks.
2). GACC registration for low and medium-risk foods producers is about $980, time about 2-4 months
3). GACC registration for high-risk foods producers is $1K to 3K, time about 3-4 months.

For details, please visit AQSIQ registration cost

If you are a manufacturer, your products export to China directly by GACC, you need to submit at least two GACC applications:

- One is General GACC registration for Overseas Exporters.

- The other is General GACC registration for Overseas Manufacturer.

If your products involve medium-to-high-risk food category, your also need to apply anther recommendation application process of the competent authority of your country.

If you have several factories that belong to the same company and export the same products to China. According to the requirements of the “GACC Decree 248": (The full Chinese language text of Decree 248 is available on the GACC website)

Regulations on the Registration and Administration of Overseas Producers of Imported Food”,
all overseas food manufacturers, processors, and storage facilities need to register with the GACC,

Each of the food category requires a separate GACC registration number, Each facility address requires a separate GACC registration number.

The Regulations on the Registration and Administration of Overseas Producers of Imported Food (Degree 248) will enter into force on January 1, 2022. Once implemented, the measure will require that all overseas food manufacturers, processors, and storage facilities be registered with the Chinese authorities to export product to China.

The measure covers all food products except food additives, depending on the product category, food producers must register with the General Administration of Customs of China either a) through the competent authority of the exporting country or b) directly and/or through a private agent.

1). Inaccurate application type and category:

GACC registration is applied based on food categories. There are about 30 categories and 100 sub-categories in GACC-registered food categories. Each sub-category needs to apply for a separate GACC registration number. If the products of the manufacturer involve multiple categories, then they need to apply for multiple GACC registration numbers; Different food categories need to apply for different types of China GACC registration, there are 4 types GACC registrations:

GACC registration for overseas manufacturers of Low-risk food (GACC-I type)

GACC registration for overseas manufacturers of medium risk food (GACC-II type)

GACC registration for overseas manufacturers of High-risk food (GACC-III type)

General GACC registration for overseas exporters of imported food with (GACC-E type)

2). Imprecise classification for products listing:
GACC registration requires the listing of foods exported to China and needs to fill in China’s HS code and CIQ code.
The classification rules of foods in China and the country of origin may be different. Wrong classification of foods will lead to failure of GACC registration.

3). Inexact application documents:
Different types of GACC registrations for different food categories have different requirements for application materials,
The main application materials for GACC registrations include:

- GACC registration application form
- Business License for company
- Production License for facility
- Certificate of production management system
- Recommendation letter from competent authority of country of origin (required for GACC-II, GACC-III types)
- Enterprise Information Form
- Enterprise Commitment Statement
- Processing flow chart
- List of foods to be exported to China
- List of Major raw materials & affiliated company
- Product photos
- Ingredient Formula
- Mandarin label element, etc.

These application documents need to meet the requirements of China’s regulations and national standards; and some application materials also require Chinese versions.