Export: Restricted and Prohibited

Restricted and prohibited exports are similar from country to country.

Restrictions and Prohibitions

All countries restrict or prohibit the import and export of certain articles based upon:

Concerns for health, safety, and public morality (e.g., foodstuffs, agricultural products, live animals, biologic materials, pharmaceuticals, illicit drugs, chemicals, hazardous products, and materials deemed indecent).
Protection of the physical and economic security of the state (e.g., arms, armaments, dual-use technology, radio and television transmitters and receivers, radioactive materials, seditious materials, and currency).
Economic protection or subsidization of domestic industry (e.g., non-tariff barriers to trade for imports and control of natural resources for exports).
Enforcement of provisions of multi-lateral trade agreements (e.g., those designed to protect endangered and threatened species of animals and plants and those designed to protect copyright, patent, and trademark holders against infringement).

Restricted

Restricted articles may be commercially exported only with authorization from local authorities. The restriction may stem from Chinese protective measures or from international treaties or conventions to which China is a party. Among China's provisions are quotas, related licensing requirements, and duties.

China’s export controls affect a wide range of products, including:

Aircraft
Catalytic converters
Ceramics
Chemicals
Fiber optic cables
Gold and silver products
Guns and weapons (strictly controlled by license)
Hazardous and other wastes (per the Basel Convention on Hazardous Wastes)
Medical imagery
Ozone-depleting substances (per the Montreal Protocol)
Radio reception equipment, transmission equipment, and coding equipment
Refined petroleum products
Refrigerators
Semiconductor chips
Soil
Steel
Technology related to AI
Tobacco
Toxic chemicals as listed in the List of Toxic Chemicals Banned or Severely Restricted in the People’s Republic of China published by the State Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA)
Wildlife controlled by health restrictions
Wildlife controlled by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)

Prohibited

Media

Audio tapes
Computer storage media
Films
Gramophone records
Manuscripts
Photos
Printed matter
Video compact discs
Video tapes

Articles of Cultural or Natural Value

Antiques and other cultural items created before 1949
Chinese ephedra (medicinal plant)
Ivory
Musk
Natural bezoars
Nostoc flagelliforme (black moss)
Platinum in plates and sheets
Platinum in unwrought or in powder form
Products made by prisoners
Rare and endangered animals and/or plants, including their specimens and seeds
Rhinoceros horns
Stamps over 100 years old
Tiger bones

Other

Commodities considered dangerous to national security
Used electronic and machinery products
Prohibited

Note: The above information is subject to change. Importers and exporters are advised to obtain the most current information from a customs broker, freight forwarder, logistics professionals, or local customs authorities.

Source: General Administration of Customs