Laws of the People's Republic of China

   Article 1. The import and export of articles for official use by foreign diplomatic missions in China and of articles for personal use by their officers shall comply with the present Regulations.

   Article 2. The term "articles for official use" in the present Regulations means furniture, articles for decoration and display, vehicles, office supplies and entertaining articles for the use of foreign diplomatic missions in China themselves; the term "articles for personal use" means personal articles for daily use of diplomatic officers and their spouses and children living with them during their stay in China.

   Article 3. Inward and outward articles for official use of foreign diplomatic missions or inward and outward articles for personal use of diplomatic officers through consignment shipping or by mail shall be declared to the Customs in writing and released duty free after the Customs ascertains that they are in reasonable quantities. If they are subject to Customs inspection, the owner or his or her representative shall be present.

   Article 4. Foreign diplomatic officers entering or leaving China shall declare in person to the Customs their accompanying baggage and effects carried with them or carried by the same means of conveyance as they are taking. Such baggage and effects will be released duty free by the Customs, but may be subject to Customs inspection if necessary. The owner or his or her representative shall be present during the inspection.

   Article 5. Articles which the Chinese government prohibits for import or export shall not be taken or shipped into or out of China by foreign diplomatic missions and their officers. If previously approved by the authorities concerned of the Chinese government, such articles shall be declared to the Customs upon their importation or exportation and will be released by the Customs after verification.

The import of arms and ammunitions shall be subject to previous approval by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China. The import of radio receivers and transmitters shall be dealt with in accordance with an inter-governmental agreement on the installation of radio stations. All the above items shall be declared to the Customs in writing upon their importation and reexportation.

For the export of relics, an application shall first be filed with the Customs. Such cultural relics shall then be verified jointly by the Customs and the Cultural Relics Administration and released by the Customs against the Export Certificate for Cultural Relics issued by the said Administration.

   Article 6. The ownership of articles of duty-free admission for foreign diplomatic missions or their officers shall not be transferred without prior approval. Such transfer when necessary shall be subject to prior approval by the Customs.

Articles may be transferred duty free to another diplomatic mission or its foreign nationals if the recipient is entitled to enjoy duty-exemption treatment and duties shall be paid to the Customs if not.

Except for the above transfer cases, all other articles for sale shall be purchased by a designated state commercial agency (in Beijing, the Friendship Store),and the seller shall pay duties on them as stipulated.

   Article 7. Diplomatic pouches dispatched or received by foreign diplomatic missions shall contain only diplomatic papers, reference material and office supplies. They shall be sealed and clearly marked and shall be carried by professional diplomatic couriers or non-professional diplomatic couriers an inward or outward diplomatic pouch carried by a captain of a foreign commercial airplane or conveyed personally by a diplomat or a person acting as a courier authorised by the foreign diplomatic mission concerned.

The Customs shall release without inspection all diplomatic pouches that conform with the above conditions.

   Article 8. The import and export of articles for official use by foreign consular missions in China and of articles for personal use by their officers shall be dealt with in consideration of the relevant articles of the present Regulations on the principle of equality and reciprocity, or in accordance with the provisions of the bilateral agreement which has been concluded.