Arrival readiness

Mailing a parcel out of China: which company may send it, what Customs forbids outright, and what gets filed with your name on it

In short

I want to post a box home from China. Which rules decide whether it can go?

Customs rules, not the courier shop. Under the customs measures on inbound and outbound express consignments, only an operator registered in China and recorded with Customs as an international freight forwarding enterprise may run the cross-border channel (第三条), and that operator is forbidden to accept or carry anything listed in the Table of Articles Prohibited from Entering or Leaving China — and on finding one it may not deal with the item itself but must notify Customs (第四条第一款). Your box is then classed, and belongings sent home fall in the personal-articles class, defined by self-use in a reasonable quantity (第十二条). For that class the operator files a personal-articles declaration form, the house waybill, a photocopy of the sender identity document and whatever else Customs requires (第二十一条). An outbound consignment must be declared before the three hours preceding departure (第十六条).

Back to the checklist hub

Applies to

Consignments that an inbound or outbound express operator accepts and carries in the fast commercial manner it undertakes to its customers, which is the scope 第二条 of the measures sets for itself.

Check before you rely on it

No outbound value threshold is published on this page. The instrument this site read in full that does publish a parcel threshold applies to inbound articles only, and the outbound figures in circulation come from a customs announcement whose own page could not be opened in this pass. Cultural relics are named by the prohibited table but their permit procedure is a separate page, not restated here.

Information checked: October 16, 2026

This page is about the box leaving the country. If what you want to know is what a Chinese courier counter refuses inside the country, and what the company has to do once it finds something, that is the sister page below.

Checklist hub The courier refused my package

The published sequence

From packing the box to the aircraft door

1.Work out which channel you are in. A cross-border express consignment may only be handled by an operator that is registered in China and recorded with Customs as an international freight forwarding enterprise (第三条). A private letter is a different channel again: without the approval of the postal authorities an express operator may not take it at all (第四条第二款).
2.Check the item against the Table of Articles Prohibited from Entering or Leaving China before you pack it. The operator is forbidden to accept or carry anything on that table, and if it finds one it may not deal with the item on its own initiative (第四条第一款).
3.Separately check the Table of Articles Restricted from Entering or Leaving China. Restricted is not the same as prohibited, and the restricted table publishes no procedure of its own — only the word restricted.
4.Expect the parcel to be classed. The measures divide consignments into documents, personal articles and goods (第十条). A visitor sending belongings home is in the personal-articles class, which is defined by self-use in a reasonable quantity (第十二条).
5.Hand over an identity-document photocopy with the paperwork. For a personal-articles consignment the operator files a declaration form for personal articles, the house waybill for each consignment, a photocopy of the sender identity document and whatever else Customs requires (第二十一条). The filing duty sits on the operator.
6.Mind the outbound clock. An outbound consignment must be declared to Customs before the three hours preceding the departure of the means of transport (第十六条).
7.Be reachable in case Customs opens the parcel. Where Customs opens and inspects personal articles, the operator is to notify the sender of an outbound consignment to attend; if you cannot attend, the operator files your written authorisation and carries the corresponding liability (第十八条第二款).
8.Do not expect to retrieve or repack the parcel once it is inside the customs supervision area. Without customs permission a consignment whose formalities are unfinished may not be moved out, loaded, unloaded, opened, repacked, relabelled, collected, delivered or despatched (第六条).

Official source: State Council portal, national regulation database (www.gov.cn/zhengce/, departmental regulations section, page credited to the General Administration of Customs website); the instrument itself is issued by the General Administration of Customs — 中华人民共和国海关对进出境快件监管办法 — Customs Measures for the Supervision of Inbound and Outbound Express Consignments (海关总署令第104号, as amended three times, 全文三十一条) (source 2018-05-29; read October 16, 2026)

Read this before you pack

Four things the measures settle that shipping advice usually gets wrong

Each of these is in the text of the measures, not in a counter clerk's discretion.

The duty to declare sits on the operator, not on you. 第二十一条 lists what the operator files. You are not filing it, and the identity document goes in as a photocopy.
Refusal is not the operator being difficult. 第四条第一款 bars it from accepting or carrying anything on the prohibited table, and bars it from handling such an item on its own initiative.
Restricted is not prohibited. Two separate tables were promulgated together. Only the prohibited one is named by 第四条第一款; the restricted one publishes no quantity and no application route at all.
The outbound clock is short and counts backwards. 第十六条 gives inbound 十四日 from the arrival declaration, and outbound only the time before the 3 小时 preceding departure.

Table one of two

Prohibited from leaving China — four items, and the seven they pull in

Quoted from the promulgating original, which carries the masthead （1993年2月26日海关总署令第43号发布自1993年3月1日起施行）. This is the table 第四条第一款 of the express measures names. It is shown with its 1993 date rather than as a current list, and nothing is added to it.

1. 列入禁止进境范围的所有物品；
Everything on the prohibited-inbound list is also prohibited outbound, so the seven items below apply in both directions.
2. 内容涉及国家秘密的手稿、印刷品、胶卷、照片、唱片、影片、录音带、录像带、激光视盘、计算机存储介质及其他物品；
Manuscripts, printed matter, film, photographs, recordings, discs, computer storage media and other articles whose content involves state secrets.
3. 珍贵文物及其他禁止出境的文物；
Valuable cultural relics and other cultural relics prohibited from leaving the country. Whether a specific object is in this category, and what permit the answer turns on, is a separate procedure this site covers on its own page rather than restating here.
4. 濒危的和珍贵的动物、植物（均含标本）及其种子和繁殖材料。
Endangered and valuable animals and plants, including specimens, and their seeds and reproductive material.

Item 1 incorporates the prohibited-inbound list in full, so these seven also apply on the way out

1. 各种武器、仿真武器、弹药及爆炸物品；
2. 伪造的货币及伪造的有价证券；
3. 对中国政治、经济、文化、道德有害的印刷品、胶卷、照片、唱片、影片、录音带、录像带、激光视盘、计算机存储介质及其他物品；
4. 各种烈性毒药；
5. 鸦片、吗啡、海洛因、大麻以及其他能使人成瘾的麻醉品、精神药物；
6. 带有危险性病菌、害虫及其他有害生物的动物、植物及其产品；
7. 有碍人畜健康的、来自疫区的以及其他能传播疾病的食品、药品或其他物品。

Official source: State Council portal, national regulation database (www.gov.cn/zhengce/, departmental regulations section, page credited to the General Administration of Customs website) — 《中华人民共和国禁止进出境物品表》和《中华人民共和国限制进出境物品表》 — the Table of Articles Prohibited from Entering or Leaving China and the Table of Articles Restricted from Entering or Leaving China (海关总署令第43号) (source 1993-02-26; read October 16, 2026)

Table two of two

Restricted from leaving China — seven items, and no procedure published

The second table promulgated by the same instrument, masthead （1993年2月26日海关总署令第43号发布自1993年3月1日起施行）. Restricted is not prohibited: these are not items the express measures bar outright, and the table itself publishes only the word restricted — no quantity, no application route, no issuing office.

1. 金银等贵重金属及其制品；
2. 国家货币；
3. 外币及其有价证券；
4. 无线电收发信机、通信保密机；
5. 贵重中药材；
6. 一般文物；
7. 海关限制出境的其他物品。

Official source: State Council portal, national regulation database (www.gov.cn/zhengce/, departmental regulations section, page credited to the General Administration of Customs website) — 《中华人民共和国禁止进出境物品表》和《中华人民共和国限制进出境物品表》 — the Table of Articles Prohibited from Entering or Leaving China and the Table of Articles Restricted from Entering or Leaving China (海关总署令第43号) (source 1993-02-26; read October 16, 2026)

The published facts

Article by article: who may carry it, how it is classed, what is filed, and when

Each line links the official page and the day we read it. Sources read 2026-10-16.

Only a customs-recorded freight forwarder may run the cross-border express channel

第三条 defines the operator: 『本办法所称进出境快件运营人（以下简称运营人）是指在中华人民共和国境内依法注册，在海关登记备案的从事进出境快件运营业务的国际货物运输代理企业。』 So not every courier shopfront can send your parcel abroad — the entity that clears it has to be registered in China and recorded with Customs.

What the operator may not take, and may not quietly hand back

第四条第一款 is the absolute bar: 『运营人不得承揽、承运《中华人民共和国禁止进出境物品表》所列物品，如有发现，不得擅作处理，应当立即通知海关并协助海关进行处理。』 Three layers — may not accept, may not carry, and on finding one may not deal with it on its own initiative but must notify Customs immediately and assist. The five characters 『不得擅作处理』 are why a counter cannot simply return the item to you.

Private letters are the postal channel, by law

第四条第二款: 『未经中华人民共和国邮政部门批准，运营人不得承揽、承运私人信件。』 The split between the courier channel and the postal channel is written into this one sentence. What a post office counter then requires for an international letter or parcel is published elsewhere, and this site has not read it.

Your parcel is classed before anything else happens

第十条: 『本办法将进出境快件分为文件类、个人物品类和货物类三类。』第十二条 defines the class a visitor sending belongings home falls into: 『个人物品类进出境快件是指海关法规规定自用、合理数量范围内的进出境的旅客分离运输行李物品、亲友间相互馈赠物品和其他个人物品。』 The test is self-use within a reasonable quantity; 第十三条 then sweeps everything outside the document and personal-articles classes into the goods class.

What gets filed for a personal-articles consignment — four items

第二十一条: 『个人物品类进出境快件报关时，运营人应当向海关提交《中华人民共和国海关进出境快件个人物品申报单》、每一进出境快件的分运单、进境快件收件人或出境快件发件人身份证件影印件和海关需要的其他单证。』 A declaration form for personal articles, the house waybill for each consignment, a photocopy of the sender identity document, and anything else Customs requires. Note who carries the duty: the operator files these, and what you supply into that filing is a photocopy.

The outbound deadline is three hours before departure

第十六条 sets both directions in one sentence: 『进境快件自运输工具申报进境之日起十四日内，出境快件在运输工具离境3小时之前，应当向海关申报。』 Inbound is within 十四日 of the day the means of transport declares its arrival; outbound is before the 3 小时 preceding departure. The two numbers are written differently in the original and are reproduced that way here.

If Customs opens the parcel, the sender is supposed to be called in

第十八条第二款: 『海关对进出境快件中的个人物品实施开拆查验时，运营人应通知进境快件的收件人或出境快件的发件人到场，收件人或发件人不能到场的，运营人应向海关提交其委托书，代理收/发件人的义务，并承担相应法律责任。』第十八条第一款 adds that the operator sends staff to attend and handles the moving, opening and resealing, and 第三款 lets Customs inspect, re-inspect or take samples directly where it considers it necessary.

Where and when clearance can happen at all

第十四条第一款: 『进出境快件通关应当在经海关批准的专门监管场所内进行，如因特殊情况需要在专门监管场所以外进行的，需事先征得所在地海关同意。』第十五条 does the same for time: clearance is to take place within normal customs office hours, and anything outside them needs the prior agreement of the local Customs.

Nothing moves until the formalities are closed

第六条: 『未经海关许可，未办结海关手续的进出境快件不得移出海关监管场所，不得进行装卸、开拆、重换包装、更换标记、提取、派送和发运等作业。』 Also relevant if you are tempted to ask the operator to pull a parcel back out: 第五条 forbids it from leasing, lending or transferring its declaration right, or declaring for goods it did not itself accept and carry.

What happens if the item should not have gone

第二十八条: 『违反本办法有走私违法行为的，海关按照《中华人民共和国海关法》、《中华人民共和国海关行政处罚实施条例》等有关法律、行政法规进行处理；构成犯罪的，依法追究刑事责任。』第三十条 leaves interpretation of the measures to the General Administration of Customs, and 第二十九条 has the forms they prescribe issued separately.

Which version of the measures this is

The masthead runs verbatim: 『（2003年11月18日海关总署令第104号发布，根据2006年3月28日海关总署令第147号公布的《海关总署关于修改〈中华人民共和国海关对进出境快件监管办法〉的决定》第一次修正　根据2010年11月26日海关总署令第198号《海关总署关于修改部分规章的决定》第二次修正根据2018年5月29日海关总署第240号令《海关总署关于修改部分规章的决定》第三次修正）』 — four instrument numbers and three amendments. 第三十一条 dates commencement: 『本办法自二○○四年一月一日起施行。』

The value threshold people quote at you belongs to the inbound direction

The measures that do publish a parcel threshold set their own scope to arrivals only. 第三条 of the inbound levy measures reads 『适用本办法的进境物品，是指中华人民共和国准许进境的行李物品、寄递物品和其他物品。』 and 第二十条第（二）项 defines the term: 『寄递物品，是指个人以邮件或者快件形式寄递进出境的个人自用物品，不含跨境电子商务零售进口商品。』 Across all 二十二条 there is no outbound threshold, so no figure from that instrument is carried onto this page. What this site could not confirm for the outbound direction is set out below.

Official source: Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council, published as the attachment to its announcement on the State Council policy library — 进境物品关税、增值税、消费税征收办法 — Measures for Levying Customs Duty, Value Added Tax and Consumption Tax on Inbound Articles (attachment to 税委会公告2024年第11号, 全文二十二条) (source 2024-11-29; read October 16, 2026)

In short

The questions the measures actually answer

Which company, why a refusal sticks, how much counts as personal, when to declare, whether you have to attend, and what happens with your passport.

Can I just walk into any courier shop and send a box home?

Only an operator registered in China and recorded with Customs as an international freight forwarding enterprise may run a cross-border express consignment (第三条). A shopfront that only moves parcels inside the country is not that entity, and a private letter needs the approval of the postal authorities before an express operator may carry it at all (第四条第二款).

Why will the counter not hand the item back if it refuses it?

Because 第四条第一款 forbids the operator from dealing with an article on the prohibited table on its own initiative: 『不得擅作处理，应当立即通知海关并协助海关进行处理。』 Notifying Customs is the step the measures prescribe. What then happens to the item, and whether you get your carriage charge back, is not published in this instrument.

How much can I send out before it stops being personal articles?

The measures set a test, not a number: 第十二条 ties the personal-articles class to 『自用、合理数量范围内』. A monetary threshold for the outbound direction exists in a separate customs announcement that this site could not open on a first-party page, so no figure is published here. The widely quoted parcel threshold belongs to the inbound direction and is not carried over.

When does the declaration have to be in?

For an outbound consignment, before the three hours preceding the departure of the means of transport — 第十六条 reads 『出境快件在运输工具离境3小时之前，应当向海关申报。』 Clearance also has to happen inside a customs-approved supervision area (第十四条第一款) and within normal office hours unless the local Customs agrees otherwise (第十五条).

Do I have to be there if Customs opens my box?

The operator is to notify you. 第十八条第二款 requires it to notify the sender of an outbound consignment to attend when Customs opens and inspects personal articles, and where you cannot attend it files your written authorisation and carries the corresponding liability.

Is my passport checked at the counter?

The measures do not say. What they do say is that the operator files a photocopy of the sender identity document with its declaration (第二十一条). That is a filing obligation on the operator in the cross-border clearance step, the text lists no document types, and this site does not extend it into a claim about how a foreign passport is treated at a shop counter.

Could not confirm

What this page will not assert

The gaps cluster around money and around the restricted tables. The instrument that governs the channel sets tests rather than numbers, and the announcements carrying the outbound figures could not be opened on a first-party page in this pass.

The outbound value threshold. The figures in circulation for parcels sent to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan and to other countries come from 海关总署公告2010年第43号 and its later amendment, reportedly 海关总署公告2024年第176号. Neither announcement was opened on a first-party page in this pass, so no number is published here. The instrument this site did read in full covers inbound articles only.
Whether the 1993 tables have been added to, cut or reclassified since. The text quoted here is the promulgating original, and this pass did not open any later customs announcement interpreting it. The tables are therefore shown with their 1993 masthead rather than as a current list, and nothing is added to them.
What the restricted tables actually require. Both restricted tables publish the word restricted and nothing else: no quantity line, no application route, no issuing office. For 贵重中药材, 一般文物 and 金银等贵重金属及其制品 this site can tell you the category exists and not what to file.
How a foreign passport is treated in the identity-document step. 第二十一条 names 『身份证件影印件』 without listing document types, and this site will not guess which documents a counter accepts from a non-resident sender.
The postal channel. 第四条第二款 puts private letters with the postal authorities, but the supervision documents for international post and EMS were not opened in this pass, so nothing about a post office counter procedure is published here.
What happens to a refused item and to the carriage you paid. The measures stop at notifying Customs and assisting it; return, disposal and refunds are not in the text.

The courier refused my package

The domestic side: the nineteen-class catalogue of items the postal and courier channel may not carry, the counter inspection, and what the company must do once it finds one.

Open page

Taking antiques and cultural relics out

Item 3 of the prohibited-outbound table names cultural relics. The permit question behind it has its own page.

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Carrying it instead of sending it

The traveller-carried counterpart: the customs channels on arrival and what has to be declared.

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The station consignment counter

What a railway security gate refuses, and the station counter that sends items separately from the passenger.

Open page

Electronics and drones through customs

If the question is about the gear itself rather than the channel it travels in.

Open page

Mailing a parcel out of China: which company may send it, what Customs forbids outright, and what gets filed with your name on it

I want to post a box home from China. Which rules decide whether it can go?

From packing the box to the aircraft door

Four things the measures settle that shipping advice usually gets wrong

Prohibited from leaving China — four items, and the seven they pull in

Item 1 incorporates the prohibited-inbound list in full, so these seven also apply on the way out

Restricted from leaving China — seven items, and no procedure published

Article by article: who may carry it, how it is classed, what is filed, and when

Only a customs-recorded freight forwarder may run the cross-border express channel

What the operator may not take, and may not quietly hand back

Private letters are the postal channel, by law

Your parcel is classed before anything else happens

What gets filed for a personal-articles consignment — four items

The outbound deadline is three hours before departure

If Customs opens the parcel, the sender is supposed to be called in

Where and when clearance can happen at all

Nothing moves until the formalities are closed

What happens if the item should not have gone

Which version of the measures this is

The value threshold people quote at you belongs to the inbound direction

The questions the measures actually answer

Can I just walk into any courier shop and send a box home?

Why will the counter not hand the item back if it refuses it?

How much can I send out before it stops being personal articles?

When does the declaration have to be in?

Do I have to be there if Customs opens my box?

Is my passport checked at the counter?

What this page will not assert

The courier refused my package

Taking antiques and cultural relics out

Carrying it instead of sending it

The station consignment counter

Electronics and drones through customs

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