How to export anti-hair-loss products from the UK to China

Plan the manufacturer's registration before supplying stock

Hair-loss prevention cosmetics are special cosmetics: general-trade import requires NMPA registration, rather than ordinary-cosmetic filing. The overseas registrant must designate a mainland legal-person company to handle registration, assist adverse-reaction monitoring and carry out recalls. Confirm who will be the registrant for your product before preparing the application. Allow for months, not weeks; the Chinese authority decides the application, and no completion date can be promised. For hair dye, see our guide to exporting hair dye to China.

HMRC recorded £58.2m of UK goods exports to mainland China under HS 330499, 330590 in 2025 (2024: £55.6m, +4.6%). Exports to Hong Kong under the same codes were £21.0m. January to July 2026: £37.0m against £33.2m in the same months of 2025 (+11.5%). These codes also cover other skincare, haircare and make-up goods, so these are not exports of these cosmetics alone.

Use the correct tariff line when discussing your selling price

The relevant HS6 codes are 330499 and 330590. Chinese tariff line 33049900 has an MFN rate of 1% and line 33059000 a rate of 3%. The largest UK export line was 33049900 at £56.3m in 2025; that shared line covers skin-care and beauty preparations beyond this product.

The standard import VAT rate is 13%. Its calculation uses the customs value plus customs duty plus any applicable consumption tax. Duty and VAT add to the importer's landed cost and shape the price it can offer you. The importer's customs broker or adviser confirms whether consumption tax applies to this product.

Prepare matching Chinese labels for the registered product

Imported cosmetics can use a directly printed Chinese label or an added Chinese sticker; a sticker's content must match the original label. Prepare the original artwork and Chinese version together. Before importing, your importer must check registration and compliance with the cosmetics regulation, mandatory national standards and technical specifications; it must not import the product if that check fails.

Arrange the UK declaration for your shipment

For dispatch from England, Scotland or Wales, obtain a GB EORI and classify the goods using the correct commodity code. The export declaration needs that code, value, weight, packaging, destination, transport, and invoice and packing-list references. Give the carrier the invoice and any required export licences or certificates. Agree with your importer how this shipment's UK classification relates to Chinese lines 33049900 and 33059000.

Assess cross-border retail separately from distributor supply

The cross-border retail import list includes 33049900 for skincare and other beauty products and 33059000 for other hair preparations. The 33049900 entry excludes goods in the seventh prohibited-import catalogue and listed wildlife products without the required non-listed-species certificate from China's endangered-species import/export management office. Check the intended product against these exclusions before choosing this route.

Listed goods entering through bonded 1210 or direct 9610 retail channels receive personal-use supervision, without first-import licensing, registration or filing requirements. Exceptions cover suspended epidemic-area goods and emergency handling of major quality or safety risks. The limits are RMB 5,000 per transaction and RMB 26,000 per person annually.

The overseas retailer bears primary quality and safety responsibility and must appoint a mainland-registered company for customs registration, truthful declarations and shared civil liability. Before ordering, consumers must accept a risk notice covering origin-country standards, possible differences from Chinese standards, potentially absent Chinese labels with online Chinese e-labels, and personal use without resale. This route cannot supply stock for a distributor to resell.

Find and check an importer before committing stock

Our own staff in China find and check Chinese importers and distributors for UK brands. If an importer has already approached you, our staff in China check that company before stock is sent or anything is signed. Use our export-to-China service for this preparation.

For these cosmetics, our help is limited to preparation, finding and checking a Chinese importer, and coordinating licensed partners. We prepare registration and label work with licensed partners in China. The importer of record, responsible person and any cross-border e-commerce agent remain with licensed partners in China; your own application remains yours.