China customs allowance in 2026: the short version
If you carry something that must be declared, you fill in a customs declaration form and take the red channel (红色通道). If you carry nothing like that, you need no form and take the green channel (绿色通道). The rule is Customs Announcement 2025 No. 43, in force since 2025-04-01. Under 20,000 yuan in RMB is fine on every official reading. Above it you declare. Foreign cash over US$5,000 is declared in writing.
Is 20,000 yuan a cash limit or a declaration threshold?
Official pages use three wordings, and they do not match.
- People's Bank of China, Announcement 2004 No. 18 (in force 2005-01-01): the limit (限额) on RMB carried per person per trip, by Chinese citizens leaving and entering and by foreigners entering and leaving, went from 6,000 to 20,000 yuan. It says limit, not declare.
- State Council Decree 108 (1993), the rule behind it: the RMB you carry “must not exceed” the quota the central bank sets (art. 3), and carrying RMB in or out “shall be declared to customs truthfully as the state prescribes” (art. 4).
- Customs’ English guide for international passengers (undated, still showing pre-2025 forms): the red-channel table lists “RMB20,000 cash or above, or any other foreign currencies in cash equivalent to US$5,000 or above” for arrival and departure. The exchange-control section says “The limit of RMB allowed to bring in or take out is 20,000 yuan. The exceeding part is prohibited.”
Announcement 43 requires a written declaration for “currency cash above the prescribed amount”, on arrival and departure, with no number.
For you: under 20,000 yuan is fine on every reading. Above it, declare. The pages differ on what happens to the excess, so if you plan to carry more, ask customs on 12360 before you travel. None of these pages says whether RMB and foreign cash are added together. A 2019 reply from the National Immigration Administration to a reader asking exactly that only says customs handles it. For spending cash, see is cash accepted in China.
How much foreign currency can I bring in, and take out when I leave?
Arriving. The Provisional Measures on Carrying Foreign Currency Cash In and Out (foreign exchange regulator SAFE and customs, in force 2003-09-01) say you declare in writing if you carry foreign cash worth more than US$5,000 (art. 3). The English guide’s red-channel table says “US$5,000 or above” but its exchange-control text says “more than 5,000 U.S. dollars”; the Measures say “more than”. The guide adds that there is no quantitative restriction on foreign currency brought in. People crossing several times in a day or within 15 days are treated differently (art. 6).
Leaving. It depends on what you declared on arrival.
| Amount you carry out | What you need |
|---|---|
| Not above your latest arrival declaration | No Carrying Permit (携带外汇出境许可证); customs checks your arrival record (art. 4) |
| No record, or more than the record: up to and including US$5,000 | No permit (art. 5) |
| No record, or more than the record: above US$5,000, up to and including US$10,000 | Carrying Permit from a designated bank; if several permits add up to more than US$10,000, customs does not release it (art. 5) |
| No record, or more than the record: above US$10,000 | Permit from the foreign exchange bureau (art. 5) |
In principle you may not carry out more than US$10,000 in cash (art. 7). A Carrying Permit is valid for one use within 30 days of issue (art. 11). Keep your stamped declaration form: the English guide says you may need to show it again on return.
How much can I bring duty free? The 2,000-yuan rule
Under the duty rules in force since 2024-12-01 (Tariff Commission Announcement 2024 No. 11), a non-resident traveller’s baggage that stays in China is released duty-free up to a total value of 2,000 yuan (art. 11). A non-resident traveller returns to a place abroad where they normally live after the stay (art. 20), so a visitor who goes home fits. Residents of China get 5,000 yuan for goods bought abroad. “Up to” includes the number itself (art. 21).
- Above the allowance: duty is charged only on the excess, but an indivisible single item is taxed in full (art. 11).
- Personal use only: not for sale or rent (arts. 14 and 20). Beyond a reasonable personal-use quantity, items are taxed as imports (art. 15).
- Frequent travellers and minors: people with more than one entry within 15 days, and anyone under 18, get duty-free release only for items needed on the journey (arts. 11 and 20).
- Other rules apply to special zones such as Hainan Free Trade Port and to some groups, including non-resident long-term travellers (art. 18).
Above the allowance, personal baggage pays one combined rate (Schedule 1):
| Rate | Items |
|---|---|
| 13% | Books, newspapers, magazines, educational video material; computers, camcorders, digital cameras; food and non-alcoholic drinks; gold and silver; furniture; toys; medicines, except imported medicines covered by the special 3% import VAT rule, which follow import-goods rates |
| 20% | Sports goods (not golf), fishing gear, textiles and clothing, bicycles, and items not in the other bands |
| 50% | Tobacco, alcoholic drinks, valuable jewellery, golf equipment, high-end watches, high-end cosmetics, batteries |
How many cigarettes and how much alcohol can I bring into China?
Schedule 2 of the same rules sets the limits. For tobacco you get one choice: cigarettes or cigars or tobacco. The schedule lists alcohol on a separate line. Above the limits, goods fall in the 50% band.
| Traveller | Cigarettes, cigars or tobacco | E-cigarettes | Alcohol at 12% or higher |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arriving traveller | 400 cigarettes (heated tobacco included), or 20 cigars, or 500 g | 2 devices, 6 pods or device-pod products (disposables included), liquid not above 12 ml | 1.5 litres |
| From Hong Kong or Macao | 200 cigarettes, or 10 cigars, or 250 g | 1 device, 3 pods or device-pod products, liquid not above 6 ml | 0.75 litre |
| Frequent traveller | 40 cigarettes, or 2 cigars, or 40 g, once a day only | 1 device and 1 pod or device-pod product, liquid not above 2 ml, once a day only | None duty-free |
| Under 18 | No allowance | No allowance | No allowance |
Old figures are still online
Some pages, including the English customs guide, still show 100 cigars and an exemption from the declaration form for children under 16 travelling with adults. Don’t rely on them: they come from older rules that were replaced or repealed, such as Announcement 2010 No. 54 (repealed on 2024-12-01 by Announcement 2024 No. 176). The current schedule says 20 cigars.
Red channel or green channel: how to declare
- Nothing to declare: no form; green channel.
- Something to declare: fill in the paper form or electronic data, take the red channel, and let customs check your items.
- Online option: pre-fill the electronic data in the WeChat or Alipay mini-program 海关进出境人员指尖服务 (customs mobile service for inbound and outbound travellers) or on a web page, then confirm it at the declaration counter or another designated place. Announcement 43 doesn’t say which languages these use.
On arrival you declare prohibited items; restricted items over the limit or needing papers; animals, plants, animal and plant products and other quarantine items; blood and other human tissue, pathogens and biological products; items contaminated by or risking the spread of quarantinable diseases; currency cash above the prescribed amount; items above the duty-free limits; goods, samples and advertising materials; baggage sent separately; and other baggage items that legally require a written declaration. The departure list is shorter.
If you are unsure, ask a customs officer or take the red channel. Don’t break customs seals on baggage. The customs service guide lists the declaration as free of charge and gives the hotline 12360. The arrival card is a separate immigration form: see China arrival card 2026.
What can’t I bring into China?
- Prohibited on entry: arms, imitation arms, ammunition, explosives; counterfeit currency and securities; deadly poisons; opium, morphine, heroin, marijuana and other addictive drugs and psychotropic substances.
- Books and media: printed matter, films, photographs, records, tapes, discs, computer storage media and other articles “detrimental to the political, economic, cultural and moral interests of China”.
- Food, plants, animals: the English guide bans fruit, solanaceous vegetables, live animals (pet dogs and cats excepted), animal products, soil and other quarantine objects from countries or regions with prevalent epidemic animal or plant diseases, and food, medicine or other items from epidemic areas, harmful to people or livestock, or capable of spreading disease. That is not a ban on all fresh fruit. Neither the guide nor Announcement 43 gives a product-by-product list.
- Restricted on entry: radio transmitters and communication-security equipment; tobacco and alcohol; endangered animals and plants; RMB.
- Leaving: restricted are gold, silver and precious metals, RMB, foreign currency and securities, radio transmitters, valuable Chinese medicinal materials and ordinary cultural relics. Prohibited are everything banned on entry, plus valuable cultural relics, state-secret items and endangered rare animals and plants.
Do I need to declare a laptop, camera or drone?
Announcement 43 and the duty rules don’t name laptops, cameras or drones as items you must declare. Computers, camcorders and digital cameras appear only in the 13% duty band above. The 2,000-yuan figure is written for baggage that stays in China. Announcement 43 says only that items you bring in temporarily and must register with customs in writing follow the same declaration steps; it doesn’t say which laptops or cameras need that.
Radio transmitters and receivers are on the restricted-entry list. The customs list doesn’t say whether drones count. Airline limits on power banks are a separate matter: see power bank rules for flights and trains. For medicines, the duty schedule and the English customs guide say no more than the duty band and the ban listed above.
For your own case
This page reports what the official texts say. It is not legal advice. For a drone, prescription medicines or other gear, ask customs on 12360 or the officer at the airport.
For entry rules, see the 30-day visa-free list and the 240-hour transit areas.
