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SemiconductorsChina export controlsChanged

China's commerce ministry and customs add deadlines to checks on suspected dual-use exports

China has replaced its rules for customs checks on exports suspected of being dual-use items, goods with both civilian and military uses. The biggest change: the checks now have deadlines. Customs has 15 working days and the commerce ministry another 15, where the 2025 rules set none.

The new rules, Announcement No. 52 of 2026, were issued jointly by the Ministry of Commerce and the General Administration of Customs on 19 October and took effect the same day. They replace customs Announcement No. 123 of 2025.

Neither text names any products. China's dual-use export control list, which sets out the controlled items, includes chip materials: gallium, germanium, antimony and indium items, among them gallium arsenide, gallium nitride and gallium oxide wafers, germanium substrates for epitaxial growth, and indium phosphide.

Deadline for customs to decide

Before: NoneNow: 15 working days

What changed

Before Customs Announcement No. 123 of 2025, 16 June 2025Now Announcement No. 52 of 2026, 19 October 2026

  1. Issued by

    Before

    Customs alone

    Now

    Commerce ministry and customs together

  2. Deadline for customs to decide

    Before

    None

    Now

    15 working days from complete documents

  3. Deadline for the expert examination

    Before

    None

    Now

    15 working days for the commerce ministry. Time spent on documents and testing does not count, and “major or difficult” cases have no limit

  4. Who examines the goods

    Before

    “The national export control authority”

    Now

    The commerce ministry, which can call in experts and send goods for testing

  5. Documents the exporter hands over

    Before

    Paper customs declaration, contract, an explanation, test reports and technical documents, anything else customs asks for

    Now

    Customs declaration, contract, invoice and transport papers showing where the goods go; an explanation that now includes the legal basis; technical documents, with test reports only if there are any

  6. The goods while checked

    Before

    Held

    Now

    Held, but unrelated goods on the same declaration can be cleared separately if customs agrees

  7. Channels covered

    Before

    Not mentioned

    Now

    Also cross-border e-commerce, travellers' luggage, post and express courier

  8. The exporter's duty

    Before

    Responsible for the documents being genuine

    Now

    Must not refuse, obstruct, conceal or give false information

What stayed the same

  • Customs questions an exporter who declares goods without an export licence when it has evidence that they may be controlled.
  • The exporter has seven working days to answer, and foreign-language documents need a Chinese translation.
  • The goods are not released while they are being checked.

What we don't know yet

  • How long checks took under the 2025 rules. Neither text says.
  • How often customs questions shipments, and which goods. Neither text names any products.
  • What counts as “major or difficult”.
Check our translation The changed clauses in the original, beside our English

  1. New deadlines (2026)

    海关自收到货物发货人提供的全部材料之日起15个工作日内完成质疑判别或向商务部提出组织鉴别。商务部收到组织鉴别的完整材料之日起15个工作日内作出鉴别结论。

    Customs shall decide, or ask the Ministry of Commerce to organise an examination, within 15 working days of receiving all materials. The ministry shall reach a conclusion within 15 working days of receiving complete materials.

  2. The exemption (2026)

    重大、疑难等特殊情况不受前款时限限制。

    Major, difficult and other special cases are not bound by these time limits.

  3. Documents, before (2025)

    (一)纸质报关单; (二)出口货物合同; (三)情况说明(…); (四)检验检测报告等有关技术资料; (五)根据监管需要,海关要求提交的其他材料。

    (1) Paper customs declaration; (2) export contract; (3) explanation; (4) test reports and other technical documents; (5) other materials customs requires.

  4. Documents, now (2026)

    （一）报关单、出口货物合同、发票、证明货物流向的运输单据；（二）情况说明（包括但不限于…法律依据和事实理由等）；（三）证明货物属性的有关技术资料（如有检验检测报告，应一并提供）；（四）所需的其他材料。

    (1) Customs declaration, contract, invoice, transport documents showing where the goods go; (2) explanation, including the legal basis and facts; (3) technical documents on the goods' properties, with any test reports; (4) other materials required.

  5. Splitting a shipment (2026)

    出口货物发货人申请将同一报关单项下与被质疑货物无关联关系的其他货物拆分处理的，经海关评估研判同意后，可另行办理通关手续。

    If the exporter applies to separate other goods on the same declaration that are unrelated to the questioned goods, they can be cleared separately once customs agrees.

  6. Channels (2026)

    通过跨境电商、旅客携带、邮件、快件等渠道出口涉及两用物项的，参照本公告实施。

    Exports of dual-use items through cross-border e-commerce, carried by travellers, by post or by express courier follow this announcement.

  7. The commerce ministry's reading (2026)

    即一般情况下，在出口货物发货人提交全部材料后，最多30个工作日内完成质疑及鉴别工作，便利企业出口通关。

    That is, in general, questioning and identification are completed within at most 30 working days after the exporter has submitted all materials, making customs clearance easier for companies.

The documents

For people in the field Identifiers, citations and the trade's shorthand, from the documents
Instrument
Joint MOFCOM–GACC Announcement No. 52 of 2026, published by MOFCOM's Bureau of Security and Control. In force on publication, 19 October 2026.
Repeals
GACC Announcement No. 123 of 2025, on customs questioning in dual-use export control.
Legal basis
Export Control Law of the PRC; Customs Law of the PRC; Regulations of the PRC on the Export Control of Dual-Use Items.
Procedure
Questioning (zhiyi) by customs, then, where needed, identification (jianbie) organised by MOFCOM with experts and, if necessary, outside testing (Items 4 and 5).
Trigger
An export declared without an MOFCOM-issued licence, where customs has evidence the goods may fall within dual-use control scope. Customs issues a questioning notice, the form at Annex 1 (Item 2).
Exporter's file
Due within 7 working days of the notice, under company seal, with Chinese translations. The explanation now has to give performance specifications, main uses, and the legal and factual grounds for treating the goods as uncontrolled (Item 3).
Review clocks
15 working days for customs from a complete file, to decide or refer for identification; 15 working days for MOFCOM from complete materials. The clock stops while the exporter submits or supplements materials and while goods are tested. No limit for “major or difficult” cases (Item 7).
MOFCOM's reading
Customs decides simpler items itself and refers more complex ones; in general, questioning and identification together take at most 30 working days from a complete file (MOFCOM's FAQ 7, 19 October).
Chip materials on the list
3C001 gallium: metal, nitride, oxide, phosphide, arsenide, indium gallium arsenide, selenide, antimonide, in forms including wafers and epitaxial wafers. 3C002 germanium: metal, zone-refined ingots, zinc germanium phosphide, epitaxial-growth substrates, dioxide, tetrachloride. 3C003 antimony: ores, metal, high-purity oxides, organics and hydrides, indium antimonide. 3C004 indium: indium phosphide, trimethylindium, triethylindium.
Outcome
A result notice, the form at Annex 2: not dual-use, clearance continues; dual-use, handled under the rules; anything else, under the relevant requirements (Item 4).
Release
Goods held during questioning and identification. Unrelated line items on the same declaration can be split off and cleared once customs agrees (Item 6).
Channels
Cross-border e-commerce, travellers' luggage, post and express shipments follow the same procedure (Item 9).
Interpretation
MOFCOM for identification, GACC for questioning (Item 10).