Exporting

European products exported to the Chinese market must comply with Chinese quality and safety requirements. Products arriving at Chinese ports are inspected for compliance with applying standards and certification schemes before they are allowed to enter the market. Although the Chinese market presents a wealth of opportunities for European products, market access requirements can be challenging to first-time exporters.

The Chinese standardisation system sets out minimum quality and safety requirements for products to be traded on the Chinese market. The standardisation system operates on 4 levels and is divided between mandatory and voluntary standards. Common for most mandatory standards is that they require conformity assessment for compliance with different certification schemes – the most widely applying being the China Compulsory Certification (CCC) mark that sets out minimum quality and safety requirements for a broad range of products. 

Unlike in Europe where compliance is based on self-declaration, China requires mandatory conformity assessment. Very few international recognised test results are accepted by the Chinese authorities and in most cases type testing and inspections need to be carried out by accredited Chinese laboratories.

This section offers advice and guidance on Chinese standards and certification schemes helping EU manufacturers to access the Chinese market.