How to export electronic components to China

Classify the component before agreeing the shipment

For Electronic components and circuit boards, establish the Chinese tariff line and product entry requirements for each model with the importer’s customs broker. The following figures cover a scope extending beyond components and boards.

Under HS 8532-8543 (23 subheadings), HMRC recorded £71.9m of UK goods exports to mainland China under 23 HS6 subheadings in 2025 (2024: £60.1m, +19.7%). Exports to Hong Kong under the same codes were £25.6m. January to July 2026: £41.8m against £36.9m in the same months of 2025 (+13.3%).

The largest UK export line within that scope was 85437090, electrical machines and apparatus having individual functions, at £18.8m in 2025. That is the whole tariff-line value, not sales of components alone. Printed circuits sit under HS 853400; their listed Chinese tariff lines are 85340010 and 85340090. Match the actual goods rather than treating this broad trade total as demand for your model.

Use the Chinese tariff line to calculate landed cost

The supplied Chinese tariff facts give the MFN rates below. The listed capacitor, resistor and printed-circuit lines are 0%; 85431000 is 5% and 85437093 is 8%. Those exceptions make classification commercially important: duty and import VAT add to landed cost and affect the price a Chinese importer can offer.

The VAT Law sets a standard import VAT rate of 13%, subject to its reduced-rate list and special rules. Import VAT is calculated on customs value plus customs duty plus consumption tax, multiplied by the applicable VAT rate. The importer’s customs broker or adviser confirms whether consumption tax applies to the component.

Prepare the UK declaration around the actual goods

For exports from England, Scotland or Wales, you need a GB EORI and the correct UK commodity code. The online export declaration requires the component’s value, weight and packaging, destination and transport details, and invoice and packing list references. The carrier needs the invoice and any applicable export licences or certificates. Agree who will make the declaration before dispatch, and keep the component description consistent with the classification.

Treat retail e-commerce as a narrow option

The cross-border e-commerce retail import list only partially covers this scope. It includes 85437099, other equipment and apparatus having individual functions, excluding products listed in the dual-use items and technologies import and export licence catalogue; it also includes 85439090, other electrical equipment parts not elsewhere specified in Chapter 85. Neither entry makes every component or board eligible.

Listed goods using bonded 1210 or direct 9610 retail imports are supervised as personal-use articles, with first-import licence, registration and filing requirements disapplied subject to the stated emergency exceptions. Consumers must accept a risk notice and may not resell the goods. The overseas seller must appoint a mainland-registered company to register with customs, declare truthfully and share civil liability. This route cannot supply a distributor’s resale stock.

Find an importer who can assess your particular component

Give a prospective importer the model description and proposed tariff line, and ask for its assessment of the import route and landed cost before agreeing a supply contract. 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.

We prepare registration and label work with licensed partners in China. Regulated roles remain with licensed partners in China, including the importer of record and any required cross-border e-commerce agent; the brand’s own filings remain the brand’s. We check requirements with licensed partners. Use our export-to-China service to arrange importer checks and preparation for your component.