Laws of the People's Republic of China

REGULATIONS OF THE CUSTOMS OF THE PEOPLE'S
REPUBLIC OF CHINA FOR CONTROL OVER BAGGAGE OF
PASSENGERS COMING FROM OR GOING TO HONG KONG AND MACAO

 ( Promulgated by the Ministry of Foreign Trade on1 July 1979)

 

 

 

SUBJECT: CUSTOMS

ISSUING-DEPT: MINISTRY OF FOREIGN ECONOMIC RELATIONS & TRADE

ISSUE-DATE: 07/01/1979

IMPLEMENT-DATE: 07/01/1979

LENGTH: 906 words

TEXT:

[Article 1] Baggage carried by passengers coming from or going to Hong Kong and Macao (hereinafter referred to as "passengers"), if in reasonable quantities for personal use and within the limit specified in the "Table of Duty-free and Dutiable Articles Carried by Passengers" (see Appendix 1), shall be released either free of duty or on payment of duty after Customs inspection.

[Article 2] Inward passengers carrying baggage which is within the import duty-free limit as specified in the attached table may pass through the "Green Channel" where it is so provided by Customs.üü Should articles carried by such a "Green Channel" passenger be found to exceed the import duty-free limit, which is deemed a violation of Customs regulations, Customs shall inflict on the offender a fine not greater than 500 yuan according to the nature of the case.üü In addition, the articles exceeding the import duty-free limit shall be returned to Hong Kong or Macao.üü Should dutiable articles be found in such a case, it shall be deemed an act of smuggling and dealt with accordingly.

[Article 3] Inward passengers carrying articles which are dutiable and/or over the import duty-free limit as specified in the table shall pass through the "Red Channel," where it is so provided by Customs, and declare their articles to Customs.üü who shall release the articles after inspection according to the present Regulations.

[Article 4] Baggage carried by outward passengers may be released at the time of exit provided it does not exceed the limit as specified in the attached table.

[Article 5] For passengers who will return within 24 hours, only items necessary for their personal use on the journey shall be released.

[Article 6] For passengers coming in or going out for resettlement in China or Hong Kong or Macao.üü Customs shall, on the strength of the relevant papers, deal with their baggage according to the provisions of the "Rules for Customs Supervision and Control over Inward and Outward Passengers' Baggage".

[Article 7] Articles carried by outward passengers, if found to be in excess of the prescribed export limit.üü shall not be permitted to be taken out whereas articles carried by inward passengers.üü if found to be in excess of the prescribed import limit, shall be detained by Customs.üü In the latter case.üü the detained articles may be reclaimed and returned to Hong Kong or Macao within a month.üü On expiration of the time limit, the Customs shall dispose of the articles and remit to the national treasury the proceeds realised from their disposal.üü However, passengers may make a request to bring along articles necessary for the journey guaranteeing the re-importation or re-exportation of such articles.üü With Customs approval and registration, such articles shall be released but must be brought back to or taken out of China at the time of re-entry or exit.

[Article 8] Passengers shall be forbidden to bring into or take out of China certain prohibited articles (see Appendix 2).üü However, jewellery and gold and silver ornaments brought in by passengers at the time of entry and registered with Customs may be taken out at the time of exit.

[Article 9] Selling for profit the articles released by Customs for inward passengers' personal use shall be strictly forbidden.

[Article 10] Offenders of the present Regulations shall be dealt with according to the relevant provisions of these Regulations.

Appendix 1

Table of Limits for Duty-free and Dutiable Articles Carried by Hong Kong and Macao Passengers:

Category	Item	Import Limit	Export Limit
	Total weight of which:	30 kg	30 kg
	1 Clothes of all kinds	35 pcs (in
		reasonable
		quantities)
	2 Shoes/socks/scarves	10 prs/pcs of each
	3 Bedding	1 pc or pr of each
		kind. but
		3 pcs or prs in all
	4 Dress material	10 m
	(single width)
Duty-Free	5 Foodstuffs	15 kg
	6 Wine and spirits	2 bottles (not
	(including	exceeding
	††medicated wine)	750 g each)
	7 Cigarettes	400 pcs
	8 Therapeutic medicines	in reasonable
	and	quantities for
	home remedies	personal use only
	9 Daily necessities	RMB Y20 (in
		reasonable
		quantities for each
		kind)
	1 Pocket calculators	1 pc
	2 Watches, radios, TV	1 pc per person a
	††sets,	year with a
Dutiable	††recorders (including	reasonable quantity
	††combinations),	of accessories
	††cameras, electric
	††fans, bicycles,
	††microcomputers,
	††sewing machines, and
	††accessories thereof
	3 Ginseng/Deer antlers	100 g of each

üü

Remarks 1 For children under 16 years of age, only articles necessary for personal use shall be released free of duty.

2 Furniture or unsanitary old clothes shall not be allowed to be brought into China.

3 Musk, toad cake and unappraised cultural relics shall not be brought into China.

4 Articles bought with Renminbi obtained through the exchanging of foreign currencies may be taken out on the strength of the relevant commercial invoices.

Appendix 2

The list of the articles prohibited from import and export by Customs of the People's Republic of China

(See Appendix 2 of the "Customs Provisions for the Supervision of the Luggage and Articles Carried into and out of China by Overseas Chinese Who Return Home to Visit their Relatives")