Can I ship cultural relics out of China by post?

Personal Postal Articles refer to inward/outward passenger baggage, gifts exchanged between relatives and friends and other personal articles, limited to reasonable quantities for personal use.

Inward/outward personal postal articles shall be limited to reasonable quantities for personal use. The customs supervision principles for inward/outward personal postal articles are: expedite regular travel and take consideration of personal reasonable use, and restrict smuggling and other illegal activities. Based on the principles, the Customs promulgated the quantity limit of articles and prohibited and restricted articles delivered by mail. The Customs will inspect articles and levy or exempt duties according to regulations.

1. The Customs shall impose import duty on personal articles mailed from other areas and exempt duties for articles with import duties not more than RMB 50.
2. Personal articles mailed from or to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan shall be limited to the value of RBM 800, and RMB 1000 for personal articles mailed from or to other countries and regions.
3. Personal articles whose value exceeds the above-mentioned duty-free limit should be returned or be cleared from customs according to goods regulations. Nonetheless, if the mail contains only one inseparable article whose value exceeds the limit, the mail will be cleared as personal article upon verification by the customs as article for personal use.
4. Inward/outward commercial mails should be cleared in line with goods regulation.

Articles prohibited as imports:

1. Arms, ammunition and explosives, of all kinds.
2. Coins, banknotes, currency notes, securities of any kind payable to bearer, travelers’ cheques, counterfeit currencies and counterfeit negotiable securities.
3. Printed matter, films, photographs, gramophone records, cinematographic films, loaded recording tapes and videotapes, compact discs (video and audio), storage medium for the computer and other articles which are detrimental to the political, economic, cultural and moral interests of the People's Republic of China.
4. Deadly poisons of all kinds.
5. Opium, morphine, heroin, marijuana and other addiction-inducing drugs and psychedelic substances.
6. Animals, plants and products thereof infected with or carrying disease germs, insect pests and other harmful organisms.
7. Foodstuff, medicines and other articles coming from epidemic-stricken areas and harmful to man and livestock or those capable of spreading diseases.

Articles prohibited as exports:

1. All articles listed as articles prohibited as imports.
2. Manuscripts, printed matter, films, photographs, gramophone records, cinematographic films, loaded recording tapes, videotapes, compact discs (video and audio), storage medium for the computer and other articles which involve State secrets.
3. Valuable cultural relics and other relics prohibited as exports.
4. Endangered and rare animals and plants (including specimens thereof) and their seeds or reproducing materials.

Articles subject to restrictions as imports:

1. Radio transmitter-receivers and units ensuring secrecy in communication.
2. Tobacco and wines.
3. Endangered and rare animals and plants (including specimens thereof) and their seeds or reproducing materials.
4. Renminbi (national currency).
5. Other articles restricted from importation by Customs.

Articles subject to restrictions as exports:

1. Precious metals such as gold and silver and articles made thereof.
2. Renminbi (national currency).
3. Foreign currencies and negotiable securities.
4. Radio transmitter and communication security machines.
5. Valuable traditional Chinese medicinal materials.
6. Ordinary cultural relics.
7. Other articles restricted from exportation by Customs.

The customs on the printed, audio and video products regulation

Personal inward/outward printed, audio and video products should be limited to reasonable quantities for personal use. The exceeded portions shall be returned. Products within the quantity and without prohibited contents will be released.

Inward/outward printed, audio and video products under customs supervision include:

Printed products----books, newspaper, magazines, printed documents, letters (except personal letters), hardcopies, paintings, manuscripts, hand-written copies.

Audio and video products----audiotapes, videotapes, gramophone records, magnetic tapes, videotapes, compact discs, video compact discs, cinematographic films, photographic plates, slides and a variety of the storage media for computers.

　　

Printed, audio and video articles prohibited as imports

The importation of the articles containing the following contents is prohibited:

1. Containing contents that attack the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China; falsely accuse the existing policies of the country; slander the Chinese Communist Party and the leaders of the country; contain propaganda which tries to overturn the government and/or destroy the stabilization, make racial segregation between all nationalities of our country; provoke “two China” or “Tai Wan independence” saying.
2. Containing detailed obscenity or pornography.
3. Publicizing feudalism superstition, murder or other violence.
4. Containing other contents which are detrimental to the political, economic, cultural and moral interests of the People’s Republic of China.

Printed, audio and video articles prohibited as exports

The exportation of the articles containing the following contents is prohibited:

1. Listed as prohibited items from importation.
2. Involved with state secrets.
3. Publications containing description as “Published in Interior” or “Published in Domestic”.
4. Documents and papers marked “Interior Communication”, “Interior Reference”, as well as for reference of the colleges and universities including the state geology and topography mapping documents.
5. Domestic printed, audio and video products published illegally, or violating the intellectual property right and pirating from foreign publishing agency.
6. Antique printed products prohibited from exportation and other printed products which are of cultural value, including the domestic original editions of the chorography, pedigree and genealogy.

Customs Supervision over Express Consignments of Goods

Express consignments of goods category mean the express consignments other than document and individual articles category. Goods express consignments are subdivided into three types.

The first type includes import and export express consignments.

Import: the goods whose tariff amount is below the minimum threshold of tariff as prescribed in the “Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Import and Export Tariff” as well as the samples of goods or the advertisement articles exempted from customs duty as prescribed by the customs.

Export: the samples of goods or the advertisement articles (except for those prescribed by laws or regulations to be subject to permit administration, those for which export tariff shall be levied, those for which foreign exchanges need to be collected upon export, and those for which taxes need to be refunded for export).

For the inward and outward express consignments of this type, the “KJ2 Customs Declaration Form of the Customs of the People’s Republic of China for Inward and Outward Express Consignments”, the specific transport document of each express consignment, the invoices, and other documents as required by the customs shall be submitted.

The second type refers to inward express consignments. For the samples of goods or the advertisement articles on which customs duties shall be levied (except for those prescribed by laws or regulations to be subject to permit administration, and those for which foreign exchanges need to be paid upon import), the “KJ3 Customs Declaration Form of the Customs of the People’s Republic of China for Inward and Outward Express Consignments”, the specific transport document of each inward express consignment, the invoices, and other documents as required by the customs shall be submitted.

The third type refers to goods other than the first and the second type. The clearance for the goods of this type shall be handled in accordance with the provisions of the customs on clearance of import and export goods.

Customs Declaration and Clearance Requirements in the Process of Mail Posting

Major Declaration Issues

1. Keep item nature back and declare items as something else
2. Fail to Declare items in accordance with requirements, or make no declaration of items, including item name, quantity, value and place of origin
3. Undervalue items, such as “ZERO VALUE”, “NO COMMERCIAL VALUE”.
4. Simply declare items as “GIFT”, “PERSONAL USE”, “GOODS”, “SAMPLE” in Declaration Form, Performa Invoice (Commercial Invoice) or CN22 of waybill
5. Declare in Chinese

Declaration Requirements

1. Declare clearly and specifically the item name in English in CN22 and CN23 declaration column, for example, “A Pair of Leather Shoes”, “Two Cotton Shirts”, “Five Cashmere Sweaters”.
2. Declare item values accurately and reasonably, and fill out the values clearly in Quintuplet Waybills, Declaration Manifests and Performa Invoices (Commercial Invoices), and make sure the declared values are consistent.
3. Goods, samples, advertisements, and gifts sent by non-individuals should include a Performa Invoice, listing consignor and consignee name and telephone number, company name and address, item name, quantity, value and place of origin.

Note: The above article is quoted from offical website of EMS.

Recomendations: As a professional mover in Beijing, PHX Logistics can help you in shipping your unaccompanied personal belongings in most practical and cost-effective way. We have been cooperating with well-known international express company e.g. TNT, DHL, and EMS. Our experienced consultants and skillful packers can solve all your problems in shipping personal articles out of China. In the meantime, you can also contact us for import solutions on your unaccompanied baggage.