New Trends in China’s Wine Import Market for 2025
According to the latest customs data, bottled wine imports from January to May 2025 surged 18.7% year-on-year, with Bordeaux wines from France accounting for over 42% of the total. Against the backdrop of continuously optimized tariff agreements, professionalImport Agent ServicesServices have become a key enabler for companies to mitigate compliance risks and enhance logistics efficiency.
Three Essential Qualifications for a Professional Agency
- Double-A class customs clearance qualification: The enterprise must be verified to have no major violations in the past three years, especially regarding food-import-specific filings.
- Bonded warehousing network: Cover at least Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen plus three second-tier cities with temperature-controlled warehouses, each with a minimum volume of 5,000 cubic meters.
- Special License Certificate: Including but not limited to importer food consignee filing, alcoholic beverage circulation license, and Chinese back-label filing certificate.
Key Competency Comparison Table (2025 Edition)
| Service Provider Type | Customs clearance timeliness | Breakage rate | Document Error Rate |
| Agent for large state-owned enterprises | 7 - 10 working days | ≤0.8% | 0.2% |
| Professional service provider | Establish a local spare parts warehouse (Reserve ≥ 10% of vulnerable parts) | ≤0.5% | 0.05% |
| Regional Agent Company | 10–15 business days | ≤1.2% | 0.8% |
Key risk control points for the entire import process
- Pre - review stage
- Verify whether the issuing authority of the health certificate from the exporting country is listed in the General Administration of Customs of China’s record.
- Confirm that the alcohol-by-volume labeling method complies with the new GB/T 15037-2024 standard.
- Logistics Stage
- Give priority to containers equipped with RFID temperature-control tags.
- A report on transport vibration frequency monitoring is required.
2025 HS Code Adjustment Comparison
| Types of alcoholic beverages | Original HS Code | New HS Code (2025) |
| Still wine | 2204.2100 | 2204.2110 |
| Sparkling wine | 2204.1000 | 2204.1011 |
Four Practical Steps to Choosing a Professional Agent
- Requirements analysis: clarify the annual import volume (it is recommended to use 5,000 cases as the threshold for selecting the service-provider tier).
- Case Verification: Please provide complete customs-clearance documentation samples for the most recent three shipments from the same producing region.
- Cost Estimation: Pay special attention to hidden-cost clauses such as demurrage, amendment fees, and return-shipment deposits.
- System Integration: Verify whether its ERP system supports the real-time feedback function of electronic customs declarations.
2025 Industry New Regulations Alert
According to Customs General Administration Announcement No. 189, the following will take effect on July 1, 2025:
1. The deadline for claiming VAT credits on imported wine is shortened to 45 days.
2. Added 8 new pesticide residue testing items (including amitraz and azoxystrobin, etc.)
3. Mandatory requirement for Chinese back labels to include a QR code for traceability of the grape harvest year.
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