Q: I am flying from Bangkok to Moscow with an overnight transit stopover in Shanghai. I want to bring tropical fruits from Bangkok for my relatives in Russia. If I leave the airport using a transit visa, will I encounter any issues at the airport? Are there any restrictions regarding fruits?

A: According to Notice No 470 from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the General Administration of Customs, titled the List of Animals and Plants, Their Products and Other Quarantine Items Prohibited from Being Carried or Sent into the People's Republic of China, fresh fruits and vegetables are prohibited from being carried or sent into the country.

Here is the full, original text from the list.

List of Animals and Plants, Their Products and Other Quarantine Items Prohibited from Being Carried or Sent into the People's Republic of China

I. Animals and Animal Products

(1) Live animals (excluding dogs and cats). Including all mammals, birds, fish, crustaceans, amphibians, reptiles, insects, and other invertebrates, as well as animal genetic material.

(2) (Raw or cooked) meat (including offal) and its products.

(3) Aquatic animal products. Excluding dried, cooked, and fermented aquatic animal products made into edible sauces.

(4) Animal-derived milk and dairy products. Including raw milk, pasteurized milk, sterilized milk, formulated milk, fermented milk, cream, butter, cheese, condensed milk, and other dairy products.

(5) Eggs and egg products. Including fresh eggs, preserved eggs, salted eggs, egg liquid, eggshells, egg yolk sauce, and other egg products.

(6) Bird's nests. Canned bird's nests that have undergone commercial aseptic processing are excluded.

(7) Fats, hides, raw wool, hooves (claws), bones, teeth, horns, and their products. Craftworks made of processed and blood-free items such as eggshells, hooves (claws), bones, horns, shells, crustaceans are excluded.

(8) Animal feed, animal-based Chinese medicinal materials, and animal-based fertilizers.

II. Plants and Plant Products

(9) Fresh fruits and vegetables.

(10) Fresh cut flowers.

(11) Tobacco leaves.

(12) Seeds, seedlings, and other reproductive plants, plant products, and materials.

III. Other Quarantine Items

(13) Microorganisms, toxins, parasites, and other animal and plant pathogens, pests, and other harmful organisms, veterinary biological products, cells, organs, tissues, blood, and their products, as well as other high-risk biological factors.

(14) Animal carcasses, animal specimens, and animal-derived waste.

(15) Soil and organic cultivation media.

(16) Genetically modified organisms.

(17) Other animals, plants and their products, as well as other quarantine items prohibited from entry into the country.

Note:

1. Animals, plants and their products, as well as other quarantine items carried or sent into the country by postal services are not subject to the restrictions of this catalogue if they have been approved by relevant administrative authorities and are accompanied by quarantine certificates issued by the official institutions of the exporting country or region

2. Pet dogs and cats with animal quarantine certificates and vaccination certificates issued by the official institutions of the exporting country or region are limited to one per person for carrying or separate consignment. Specific quarantine requirements shall be implemented in accordance with relevant regulations.

3. If there are other provisions in laws, regulations, and departmental rules regarding the prohibition of carrying or sending animal and plant products and other quarantine items into the country, they shall be handled in accordance with relevant regulations.

Sources: Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, General Administration of Customs, Shanghai Customs 12360 hotline