PRC Info

Find GB Standards

PRC Standards system

Key Organizations

Purchase GB Standards

Standards Used in China

PRC Conformity Assessment System: Conformity Assessment Used in China

The Certification & Accreditation of the People's Republic of China (CNCA) coordinates the conformity assessment system as mandated by the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Certification and Accreditation, revised in July 2023. CNCA administers both the China Compulsory Certification (CCC) System (the national quality and safety mark of China) and the China National Accreditation Service (CNAS), the national accreditation body.

LEARN MORE ABOUT CNAS AND ACCREDITATION IN CHINA

OVERVIEW OF CHINESE CONFORMITY CERTIFICATION

Certification Type	Certification Validity Period	Certification Mark	Certification Body
CCC Certification	5 years		Conformity assessment bodies accredited by CNCA
CCC SDoC	5 years		Conformity assessment bodies accredited by CNCA
Type II CQC Certification	10 years		Conformity assessment bodies accredited by CNCA
CQC Certification	5 years, 10 years, or no expiration depending on the specific product		China Quality Certification Center (CQC)

CHINA COMPULSORY CERTIFICATION (CCC) - MANDATORY

Implemented on May 1, 2002, China Compulsory Certification (CCC) is applied to products related to human life and health, animals, plants, environmental protection and national security. Certification bodies and test laboratories authorized and accredited by the Certification and Accreditation Administration of the People’s Republic of China (CNCA) can carry out CCC certification activities. Regulated products must obtain proper certification and apply the mandatory CCC certification mark before it can be marketed, imported or used for any commercial purposes

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CCC MARK

CHINA COMPULSORY CERTIFICATE SELF-DECLARATION (CCC SDOC) – MANDATORY AND APPLICABLE TO CERTAIN PRODUCTS

The China Compulsory Certificate Self-Declaration (CCC SDoC) is a mandatory certification for certain specific products in China. It is a different format of the CCC certification and requires a different certification process than the standard CCC certification process. It is important to note that CCC Self-Declaration is only required for certain types of product categories and is not interchangeable with products that require CCC. Also, products that are required to have CCC Self-Declaration cannot apply for the standard CCC certification. They are two different types of certifications and have separate processes.

The CCC Self-Declaration is also often known as China Self-Declaration, CCC Declaration of Compliance (DoC), CCC Supplier Declaration of Conformity (SDoC), CCC Self-Declaration of Compulsory Product Certification, or CCC Self-Declaration Certification.

With the CCC Self-Declaration, the manufacturer declares that their manufactured products comply with the GB standards and that product conformity is continuously ensured and maintained in accordance with Chinese regulations. Products subject to CCC Self-Declaration may be sold or used in the Chinese market only after the Self-Declaration has been issued.

The applicant for CCC Self-Declaration must be a company registered in China. This company can be a subsidiary, an OEM or an importer. The Chinese company will take responsibility for the products. The CCC Self-Declaration is registered and issued via an online portal of the CNCA.

TYPE II CQC CERTIFICATION – ALTERNATIVE TO CCC SDOC

According to the Announcement of the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) on the Adjustment and Improvement of the Catalogue of Compulsory Product Certification and Implementation Requirements (No. 44 of 2019), for products eligible for Compulsory Certificate Self-Declaration (SDoC), SDoC should be adopted. The SDoC certificate will be issued in the form of a QR code and the actual certificate will no longer be issued. However, in practice, there are many places where the actual SDoC certificates are required, which causes a lot of trouble for companies who don’t have the actual certificates. For this reason, the China Quality Certification Center (CQC) has introduced Type II voluntary certification program. Type II Voluntary Certification is a supplement to the certification model for products under SDoC category.

Download the General Certification Rules for Type II CQC Certification (in Chinese only)

VOLUNTARY PRODUCT CERTIFICATION – VOLUNTARY

The purpose of voluntary certification is to protect consumers' personal and property safety, maintain consumers’ interests to improve product quality of domestic enterprises, increase competitiveness in the international market, and facilitate the smoother accession of foreign enterprises' products into the Chinese market.

The Voluntary Product Certification (CQC Mark certification) is a voluntary product certification for Chinese products or products that are imported to China. The Voluntary CQC Mark Certification can be applied for products which are not in the China Compulsory Certification product catalogue and thus cannot receive a China Compulsory Certificate (CCC Certificate).

The CQC Mark guarantees the conformity of the product with the Chinese national standards (GB standards) regarding safety, quality, environmental and energy efficiencies. More than 500 products are covered under this scope, such as mechanical equipment, power equipment, electrical appliances, electronic products, textiles and building materials.

The list of products that can receive a CQC Mark, if they do not require a mandatory CCC certification, is available here (in Chinese only).

CNAS AND ACCREDITATION

CNCA supervises the China National Accreditation Service (CNAS) who accredits all organizations that participate in conformity assessment. Under conformity assessment law, all bodies that issue certifications must be accredited by CNAS, but only a few are designated to issue the CCC marks. Many accredited organizations can perform multiple certifications, but only a select few can process CCC applications. The accredited bodies that certify products with the CCC Mark are known as “designated certification bodies” (DCBs). CNCA designates several, accredited bodies and then issues them certification privileges within a specific product scope. DCBs may only certify products that fall under their scope.

• View the CNAS accreditation process for certification body, laboratory, and inspection body
• Find an accredited body in China

Conformity Marks Used in China