How to export umbrellas from the UK to China

Confirm the route for umbrellas and walking sticks

Umbrellas and walking sticks fall under HS6 660110, 660191, 660199 and 660200. Confirm the applicable product requirements with the Chinese authority before committing stock. GACC Decree 280 concerns overseas food manufacturers, so its registration requirement does not apply here. The largest UK export line listed is 66019990, umbrellas and sun umbrellas, including walking-stick umbrellas, at £90k. Decide whether the shipment supplies a distributor or eligible cross-border retail customers.

HMRC recorded £278k of UK goods exports to mainland China under HS 660110, 660191, 660199, 660200 in 2025 (2024: £351k, -20.9%). Exports to Hong Kong under the same codes were £72k. January to July 2026: £98k against £218k in the same months of 2025 (-54.9%).

Build Chinese border taxes into your quote

The listed Chinese tariff lines have the MFN rates below. Import VAT normally uses the 13% rate and is calculated on customs value plus customs duty plus consumption tax. The importer’s customs broker or adviser confirms whether consumption tax applies to these goods. Border taxes add to landed cost and shape the price a Chinese importer can offer; distinguish garden umbrellas from telescopic and other umbrellas before discussing margins.

Prepare the UK export declaration

For exports from England, Scotland or Wales, obtain a GB EORI and choose the correct commodity code. Your declarant needs the value, weight, packaging, destination, transport details, and invoice and packing list references for the online export declaration. Give the carrier the invoice and any required export licences or certificates. Describe the umbrella’s shaft and intended use clearly so classification can distinguish garden, telescopic and other umbrellas from goods under HS6 660200.

Use cross-border retail only for eligible umbrellas

The cross-border e-commerce retail import list includes Chinese lines 66011000, 66019100 and 66019900. The category’s listing is partial: confirm the proposed SKU and route before offering this option for sticks. Listed goods entering through bonded 1210 or direct 9610 are supervised as personal-use articles, with first-import licence, registration and filing requirements disapplied, subject to epidemic-area suspensions and emergency risk handling. The limits are RMB 5,000 per transaction and RMB 26,000 annually per person.

The overseas retail business retains responsibility for product quality and safety and must appoint a mainland-registered company to register with customs, declare truthfully and share civil liability. Before ordering umbrellas, consumers must accept a notice explaining possible differences from Chinese standards, possible absence of a Chinese label with a Chinese e-label available online, and the personal-use restriction against resale. This route therefore cannot supply a distributor’s resale stock.

Find and check the Chinese importer

Our own staff in China find and check Chinese importers and distributors for UK brands. If an importer has already approached your umbrella brand, our staff in China check that company before stock is sent or anything is signed. Establish whether the proposed buyer wants resale stock or operates an eligible retail route, and agree the classification and landed-cost assumptions before discussing the order.

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