Can lipstick and lip products be exported to mainland China?

Yes. Lipstick, lip gloss, lip crayon and similar lip products can be exported to mainland China as ordinary cosmetics when they are used to temporarily color or care for the lips and do not claim sun protection. For general-trade import of a finished product, complete the required filing or registration before import, appoint a Domestic Responsible Person, and apply a Chinese label that meets the Cosmetics Labeling Rules. Customs and inspection-quarantine formalities are a separate process. Cross-border e-commerce retail import is a different channel with list, platform and personal-use limits; it is not a blanket “no filing” rule and not a path to unrestricted domestic resale. Testing and ordinary cosmetics filing may proceed in parallel. The ordinary filing cycle is about 10–20 days in total, depending on completeness and supplementary requests. That timing applies only to ordinary cosmetics filing, never to special cosmetics registration and not as a guaranteed import timeline. A lip product with SPF must be registered as a sunscreen. Whitening classification is not assigned to the lips under the classification rules, so a “whitening lipstick” claim should be treated with caution rather than forced into either ordinary colour cosmetics or a standard whitening file.

Published 11 November 2026 · Updated 11 November 2026

How to judge the path

Colorants must be permitted cosmetic colorants used within the Safety and Technical Standards for Cosmetics. Flavoring and leave-on lip exposure should be covered in the safety assessment.

Different shades are different products when their colorant formulas differ. See whether different lipstick shades need separate filings.

Typical documents, tests and labels

Prepare an ordinary filing dossier, artwork for each shade you will sell, and a Chinese label for the sales unit. Jinshang Testing organizes the compliance work. Testing is coordinated with partner laboratories, and those laboratories issue the reports they perform. After a record is issued, check it on the official NMPA filing query https://hzpba.nmpa.gov.cn/gccx/ and the NMPA data-search page https://datasearch.nmpa.gov.cn/datasearch/home-index.html#category=hzp.

Cautions

Do not file an SPF lip balm as ordinary lipstick. Long-wear or transfer-proof claims should stay truthful and cosmetic.

Questions we are often asked

Are lip tints treated like lipstick?

Yes, when they temporarily colour the lips as a beauty-modification cosmetic. The stain format does not by itself require special registration.

Can I use one filing for a lipstick and a matching lipliner?

Only if they are one product under the rules—for example two formulas that must be used together or cannot be separated. Two independently used products are two filings.

Next step

Discuss your China market path

Tell us whether you plan to import finished goods or manufacture in mainland China, and what the product claims. We will outline the likely filing or registration path. Testing, where needed, is arranged with partner laboratories.