What Cannot Be Shipped from China: An Item-by-Item Prohibited and Restricted Goods Guide

There is no single master list of what cannot be shipped from China. Whether a given item can leave the country depends on four layers of rules that must all pass at the same time: China export requirements, the carrier and airline rules for that specific route, destination import and product-compliance rules, and the documentation that belongs to the product category. When any one layer fails, a parcel can be refused, returned or held at destination — even if the other three looked fine.

This guide is written for merchants moving supplier parcels out of China: what to check per category, which documents carriers actually ask for, and where repacking changes the answer and where it does not.

Why no single list exists: the four layers

• China export side — customs declarations, dangerous chemicals regulation, and dual-use or technology export controls. Some goods are legal to own and illegal to export without a licence.
• Carrier and airline rules — for air, the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR), updated annually, plus each airline's own embargoes; for ocean, the IMDG Code; for postal and express networks, each operator's own restricted list layered on top.
• Destination import side — the destination customs authority, product-safety regulators, and quarantine or licensing bodies. This is where a shipment can clear export and still be stopped.
• Category documentation — safety data sheets, UN38.3 test summaries, transport condition appraisal reports, dangerous goods packaging certificates, magnetic inspection reports, and destination certifications.

An item is shippable only when all four layers pass. That is why the same SKU gets accepted by one carrier, refused by another, and held on arrival after both had agreed to move it.

Category by category: what decides the outcome

Category	Typical items	What decides the answer	Documents usually requested
Lithium batteries	Power banks, e-bike packs, laptops, Bluetooth devices, spare cells	Whether the battery ships alone, packed with equipment, or contained in equipment; watt-hour rating; UN number; state of charge	UN38.3 test summary, SDS, air transport condition appraisal
Liquids	Perfume, essential oils, inks, adhesives, cleaning liquids, e-liquid	Flash point, alcohol content, corrosivity, toxicity, pH	SDS, transport appraisal, dangerous goods packaging certificate where applicable
Powders	Cosmetic powders, protein powders, pigments, metal powders, industrial chemicals	Particle size, metal content, self-heating and dust-explosion potential	SDS, transport appraisal
Magnets and magnetic devices	Speakers, motors, magnetic closures, magnetic toys	Measured field strength at 2.1 m from the package surface	Magnetic inspection report
Aerosols and compressed gas	Hairspray, spray paint, lighters, gas cartridges	Internal pressure and flammability	SDS, dangerous goods documentation
Food and plant products	Tea, snacks, seeds, dried goods, wooden items	Quarantine and import permits; wood packaging must meet ISPM 15	Phytosanitary certificate, health certificate, IPPC mark
Medicines and medical devices	OTC medicines, supplements, contact lenses, thermometers	Licensing and prescription rules at destination	Import licence, registration documents
Tobacco, vaping and nicotine	E-cigarettes, nicotine pouches, refills	Outright bans or licensing in many destinations	Licence or permit where allowed
Currency, precious metals, antiques	Cash, gold, artwork, collectibles	Customs declaration and export control	Permits and declarations
Goods needing rights-holder authorisation	Logo-bearing goods, spare parts, character merchandise	Intellectual property clearance at both export and import	Authorisation letter from the rights holder
Dual-use and export-controlled items	Certain electronics, drones, chemicals, machine tools	China export control lists and end-user requirements	Export licence, end-user certificate

Batteries: the most common blocker

Under the IATA DGR, lithium batteries travel under UN numbers that describe how they are presented: UN3480 for lithium-ion batteries shipped on their own, UN3481 for lithium-ion batteries packed with or contained in equipment, and UN3090 and UN3091 for the lithium-metal equivalents. Each UN number comes with a packing instruction (PI965–PI967 for lithium ion, PI968–PI970 for lithium metal), and the section you qualify under determines packaging, labelling, state-of-charge limits and paperwork.

Two practical points. First, removing the battery is usually not a fix — a battery taken out of a device becomes a second dangerous-goods item that has to be declared separately. Second, button cells inside a toy or a circuit board still count; being small does not remove the declaration requirement.

Carriers typically ask for a UN38.3 test summary, 1.2 m drop test evidence for the package, an SDS, and an air transport condition appraisal report.

Liquids, powders and aerosols: judge the chemistry, not the product name

A liquid's flash point, alcohol content, pH and toxicity decide whether it is a flammable liquid, a corrosive substance, or an unregulated cosmetic. Powders are assessed on particle size, metal content and self-heating potential; fine metal powders can fall into dangerous-goods classes while a coarser cosmetic powder may not. Aerosols are pressurised and are treated as dangerous goods on most air channels regardless of what is inside the can.

On documentation, carriers usually want a GHS-format safety data sheet (SDS/MSDS, 16 sections; in China the SDS structure follows GB/T 16483) and, for anything classified as dangerous goods, a transport condition appraisal report plus a dangerous goods packaging certificate where applicable. An SDS is not a shipping authorisation in itself — it is an input into one.

Magnets and magnetic items

Speakers, motors, magnetic closures and magnetic toys can be classified as magnetised material in air transport. The IATA DGR threshold is expressed as a measured field strength at 2.1 m from the package surface (0.418 A/m), and carriers typically require a magnetic inspection report measured at that distance. Shielding and packing distance change the reading, which is why repacking can matter here — but only when the measured result genuinely falls under the threshold, not when packaging merely hides it.

The documents that actually decide the answer

• SDS/MSDS in full GHS 16-section format — not a one-page summary.
• UN38.3 test summary plus 1.2 m drop test evidence for the package: effectively mandatory for anything containing lithium batteries.
• Air transport condition appraisal report, issued by an accredited lab.
• Dangerous goods packaging certificate where the goods are classified as dangerous goods and compliant packaging is required.
• Magnetic inspection report measured at 2.1 m for magnetic goods.
• Destination compliance: CE/UKCA, FCC, FDA registration, REACH/RoHS, EPR registration and similar, depending on country and category.

None of these documents create permission. They support a decision that the carrier and the destination authority still make.

How to clear a SKU before you commit to a production run

1. Establish whether the SKU contains a battery, a liquid, a powder, a magnet or an aerosol — these five cover most blockers.
2. Ask the supplier for the full GHS 16-section SDS, not a summary page.
3. For anything with a lithium battery, request the UN38.3 test summary and confirm whether it ships alone, with equipment, or contained in equipment.
4. For magnetic goods, request a magnetic field measurement taken 2.1 m from the package surface.
5. Run the category through the restrictions checker, then confirm the destination and channel in the route finder.
6. Have the file ready before the parcel reaches the warehouse rather than after it is held.

Where repacking helps — and where it does not

Consolidation and repacking change cost structure and cargo protection; they do not change chemical classification. What we can do: split a regulated item into its own shipment, remove a battery only when the resulting shipment is still compliant, complete and file the documentation, use packing that brings a magnetic reading under the threshold, and split a mixed order by order line. What we cannot do: make a prohibited item shippable, issue certificates we are not accredited to issue, or carry goods under a false commodity description.

An item that ships this month and gets blocked next month is usually reacting to carrier embargoes, airline restrictions, peak-season rules, destination policy changes such as new vaping or battery rules, and the annual IATA DGR revision that moves packing instructions. A route check is a point-in-time answer, not a permanent classification — re-check before each production run, especially for battery and aerosol SKUs.

One boundary worth stating: we are a China receiving and first-mile operation, not a purchasing agent. Merchants source from and pay their own suppliers, and goods remain the merchant's property throughout. We receive, photograph, inspect, consolidate, repack where compliant, and arrange first-mile and international transit through carriers that accept the goods. The same classification logic also applies to personal consolidation parcels — see /personal-forwarding.

Next step

Start with the restricted-items checker for the category, then confirm the destination and channel in the route finder. For documentation and chargeable-weight planning, use the volumetric weight calculator and the consolidation service pages. Merchants with recurring supplier parcels can start at /for-merchants or /how-it-works, or request a fulfillment workflow review and we will map a category list against your SKU mix. WooCommerce sellers can find the connector path at /integrations/woocommerce (currently listed in the WordPress.org directory).