China Import Documents Checklist: Every Registration and Paper an Indian Importer Needs

1. How to Use This Checklist

Customs clears goods on paper first. The Bill of Entry your customs broker files is built from the supplier's invoice and packing list, and every later step (assessment, examination, duty payment) compares the goods with those papers. This checklist is in the order you meet the documents: registrations you make once, papers that travel with every shipment, the Bill of Entry and its deadline, and the permits and labels some products need. It is written by our import desk in Karol Bagh, Delhi, from the DGFT, CBIC and regulator sources listed at the end. The import from China to India guide covers the full process around it, and the customs clearance guide what happens at the port.

2. Registrations You Need Once

Ask your broker before the first shipment whether your port needs any further registration, such as an authorised dealer (bank) code, for your type of import.

3. Documents From the Supplier, Every Shipment

• Commercial invoice: seller and buyer with addresses, invoice number and date, a precise description of each item, quantity, unit price, total value, currency and the Incoterm with its named place (for example FOB Ningbo). It is the basis of the customs value; the FOB vs EXW guide explains how the Incoterm changes that value.
• Packing list: the contents of each carton, net and gross weights and the carton marks. It must agree with the invoice line by line.
• Bill of lading or air waybill: issued by the carrier or forwarder; the consignee details must match your IEC name and address.
• Insurance certificate, where the seller insures (CIF or CIP); otherwise your own policy.
• Certificate of origin, where it is needed (section 7).
• Product documents: technical specifications, catalogue pages and, for regulated goods, the certificates in section 5.

Ask the supplier for drafts before the goods are loaded, and have your broker check them. Correcting an invoice in China takes a day; correcting a filed Bill of Entry takes much longer.

4. The Bill of Entry and Its Deadline

The Bill of Entry is your declaration to customs of what the goods are, their classification, value and the duty you self-assess, filed electronically on ICEGATE. Since the Finance Act 2021, Section 46 of the Customs Act requires it to be filed before the end of the day preceding the day of arrival of the vessel or aircraft, and it may be filed up to 30 days before expected arrival. The notified deadlines by mode are:

Filing late without sufficient cause attracts a charge of ₹5,000 per day for the first three days and ₹10,000 per day after that, capped at the duty payable on that Bill of Entry (or ₹50,000 where no duty is payable). Filing early also lets customs complete assessment before the goods land, which reduces port storage and container charges.

5. Product Permits That Apply to Some Goods

Check the import policy for your HSN code in ITC(HS) on the DGFT site at the same time as the duty. The import duty guide shows where the rates are published.

6. Labels on Packaged Goods

Goods sold in retail packs in India must carry the declarations required by the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules 2011: the importer's name and address, the country of origin, the common or generic name, net quantity, month and year of manufacture, the retail sale price (MRP) inclusive of taxes, the unit sale price and consumer care details. The date declared is the month and year of manufacture, not the date of import. Packages meant for industrial or institutional buyers are exempt. Declarations may be affixed after import before the goods are sold, and importers of packaged goods register with the Legal Metrology authority of their state. Agree the label text with the supplier before production; printing it at the factory costs far less than relabelling in India.

7. Certificate of Origin: When It Matters

India and China have no bilateral free trade agreement, but both are members of the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA), under which some tariff lines carry a concessional rate for goods that meet the APTA rules of origin, proved by a certificate of origin issued in China. Whether your product qualifies depends on its tariff line; your broker can check the notification. A certificate of origin also matters when an anti-dumping duty applies to goods originating in China. For everything else it is not usually required, though the invoice and bill of lading will still show China as the origin.

8. The Mismatches That Hold Consignments

• Invoice description too vague to classify ("accessories", "parts") or different from the packing list.
• Quantities or weights that differ between the invoice, packing list and bill of lading.
• Consignee name or address on the bill of lading that does not match the IEC record.
• A BIS-controlled model whose number on the goods differs from the registration.
• An IEC that was not updated this year, or a missing permit for food, wireless or medical goods.
• A declared value customs considers low, without the contract and payment record to support it.

Each of these is cheaper to fix in China than at the port. The shipping guide explains how storage and container charges build up while a consignment waits.