Laws of the People's Republic of China

CUSTOMS NOTICE TO FOREIGN EXPERTS EMPLOYED TO
WORK IN CHINA GOVERNING CUSTOMS PROCEDURES FOR
THEIR ENTRY AND EXIT

 (Effective as of September 1, 1984)

SUBJECT: CUSTOM

ISSUING-DEPT: GENERAL CUSTOMS ADMINISTRATION

ISSUE-DATE: 09/01/1984

IMPLEMENT-DATE: 09/01/1984

LENGTH: 1100 words

TEXT:

[Article 1] Foreign experts who have been employed to work in China (hereinafter referred to as "experts"), upon their entry into or exit from China, shall fill in Declaration Forms for Passengers' Baggage (hereinafter referred to as "Declaration Forms"), on which they shall declare the baggage and articles brought in by them.  All the baggage and articles shall be shown to the Customs for examination.

If the experts, upon their entry or exit, have unaccompanied baggage and effects which will come in or go out, they shall state clearly the number of the pieces of baggage on the Declaration Forms.  Upon the arrival or departure of the baggage and effects, the experts shall declare and present them to the Customs for examination.  Only if they are shipped in or out within six months from the date on which the experts enter or leave China, shall duty-free preferences be offered to them by the Customs in accordance with the relevant Customs regulations.

[Article 2] If the baggage and articles brought in by the experts are in reasonable quantities for personal use, they shall be admitted free of duty.  Of them, such consumer durables as home electric appliances shall be limited to one for each category specified by the Customs.  The inward articles which are out of duty-free allowances but still for personal use shall be admitted by the Customs on payment of duties.  The consumer durables both carried in personally and shipped in with unaccompanied baggage shall be aggregated in the duty-free allowances by the Customs.

The Declaration Forms filled in by the experts upon their first entry into China shall be endorsed by the Customs and their duplicate copies shall be issued to the experts for keeping in order that the experts can produce them to the Customs for checking when they import articles again during their employment.  The experts shall return the duplicate copies to the Customs offices at the ports of exit when they leave China at the termination of employment.

The experts who are in possession of Permanent Resident Cards or determined to reside in China permanently can apply to the designated Customs offices for admission of cars for personal use (one car for each expert).  The cars shall be admitted free of duty after being verified and approved by the Customs.

[Article 3] Experts who have been to Hong Kong, Macao or places outside China for a short sojourn and bring in baggage and effects upon their re-entry during the time of employment in China shall produce to the Customs the duplicate copies of the Declaration Forms retained which were filled in by them and endorsed by the Customs at their first entry for Customs admission procedures.

If the experts bring out for a short sojourn consumer durables which have been admitted free of duty, and re-take them in upon their re-entry, they shall make a statement on the Declaration Forms upon their exit so that the Customs can release the said durables against the Declaration Forms.  If not, the said durables shall be released on payment of duties or free of duty in accordance with the relevant regulations.

[Article 4] If the experts have ordinary postal articles to be sent in, the experts themselves or the units in which the experts are working shall forward notification in advance to the Customs offices at the places the postal parcels are destined for.  Thus the Customs offices concerned can give them preferential treatment.

[article 5] Gold and silver as well as articles made thereof which the experts bring in shall not be subject to any quantity limitations, but shall be declared to the Customs offices at the ports of entry and then released after the Customs offices register their descriptions, pieces and weights.  Those which are re-taken out shall be verified and released by the Customs against the quantities and weights registered on the Declaration Forms at the time of entry.  Those which were not declared to and registered by the Customs at the time of entry or the excess over the quantities and weights which were declared to and registered by the Customs shall not be allowed for exit.

For gold and silver ornaments (including new works of art such as marquetry and household utensils) which have been bought in China's territory with foreign exchange brought in by the experts, the Customs shall verify and release them against the "Special Invoices" issued by China's gold and silver shops when they are carried, shipped or posted out of China (the "Special Invoices" are uniformly designed and printed by the People's Bank of China and distributed by its local branches).  If the "Special Invoices" cannot be produced for Customs verification, they shall not be permitted to be carried or posted out of China.

[Article 6] If the experts carry with them, consign and post any cultural relics out of China, including ancient fossils, pottery and porcelain ware, copperware, gold vessels, silverware, jade, carvings of bamboo, wood and elephant tooth, lacquerware, furniture, calligraphy and painting, rubbings from stone inscriptions and stone engravings, books, documents and literature, weavings and embroidery and study supplies, etc., they shall be first verified by the Cultural Relics Administration and then declared to the Customs by the experts or their agents at the time of exit.  The Customs will examine and release them against the red wax seals affixed to them and invoices stamped with "Purchased with Foreign Exchange" for cultural relics, or against the Export Certificates for Cultural Relics issued by the Cultural Relics Administration.

[Article 7] If at the time of entry or exit the experts declare to the Customs any articles that are prohibited into or out of China, they shall be detained by the Customs and returned abroad or taken back by the experts within a fixed time period.  However, the articles detained for being detrimental to China's politics, economy, culture, morality and hygiene shall not be returned by the Customs.

[Article 8] The articles (including consumer durables) and cars which have been admitted free of duty shall not be sold to any units or other individuals in China's territory without permission.  If they need to be sold, the experts shall file applications with the Customs and after approval by the Customs they can sell them to the departments purchasing foreign articles designated by the local people's governments.  The duties and taxes on the sold articles shall be made good in accordance with the relevant regulations.