What CCC certification covers and how to apply for it in China

CCC certification (China Compulsory Certification) explained

CCC certification (China Compulsory Certification, often called 3C certification) is China's mandatory product certification. A product on the national CCC catalogue normally needs certification and the CCC mark before it can leave the factory, be sold, be imported or be used in business in China. Certain products can use self-declaration, and specific imports qualify for exemptions.

The legal basis is the State Council's Regulations on Certification and Accreditation, last amended in 2023. The detailed rules sit in the Provisions on Compulsory Product Certification Administration, amended by SAMR Order No. 61 and in force since 1 November 2022.

Who runs the CCC system

Under the Provisions, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) runs CCC nationwide. Local market regulators supervise in their own areas. CNCA, the certification administration under SAMR, writes the implementation rules and designates certification bodies and test labs. CNCA publishes both lists: designated certification bodies and designated laboratories.

Don't confuse CCC with the voluntary CQC mark: CCC is the mandatory one.

Which products need CCC certification

The CNCA catalogue is the deciding document. The baseline is the 2023 CCC Catalogue Description and Demarcation Table (SAMR Announcement 2023 No. 36), which listed 16 categories and 96 product types. SAMR has added products since then. CNCA's implementation rules summary, updated August 2026, gives the current total: 17 categories and 106 product types.

The 16 categories in the 2023 table are:

• wires and cables
• switches, plugs and sockets, couplers, enclosures and fuse-links
• low-voltage switchgear and components
• small-power motors
• electric tools
• welding machines
• household appliances
• audio, video and IT equipment, including phones, adapters, power banks and Li-ion batteries for portable electronics
• luminaires and ballasts
• motor vehicles and their safety parts, including motorcycles, e-bikes, tyres, safety glass, seat belts and lamps
• agricultural machinery (plant-protection sprayers and small wheeled tractors)
• fire-safety products
• building materials (solvent-based wood coatings, porcelain tiles, building safety glass)
• children's products (carriages, toys, child car seats)
• explosion-proof electrical equipment
• household gas appliances

Later SAMR announcements add products the 2023 table never listed.

Four notes in that 2023 table decide most borderline cases. Electrical and electronic products are in scope only if they connect, directly or indirectly, to a supply above 36 V DC or AC (RMS). Telecom terminals, welders and explosion-proof equipment can sit below that limit and still be in scope. Products designed specifically for vehicles, trains, ships or aircraft are excluded. Remanufactured products are out. A multifunction product is classed by its main function and main use, and it still has to meet the other functions' rules.

When these products started needing CCC

The dates below are when a CCC certificate and mark became mandatory, not when applications opened:

One thing went the other way. In February 2025, SAMR and the National Fire and Rescue Administration removed fire-safety signs from CCC.

Self-declaration is mostly ending

Some catalogue products can still use self-declaration instead of a third-party certificate. Low-voltage components lost that option first: SAMR 2024 No. 9 required certificates from 1 November 2024.

SAMR 2025 No. 57, published 7 January 2026, moves 16 more product types to third-party certification. They are fuse-links, small-power motors, three power tools (drills, grinders, hammers), four welder types and seven automotive parts: safety glass, seat belts, exterior lamps, indirect vision devices, seats and head restraints, data recorders and reflective markings. Applications opened on 1 July 2026. Conversion is due by 31 December 2026, and a CCC certificate and mark are required from 1 January 2027.

After that, only low-voltage switchgear assemblies and motor-compressors stay on self-declaration, per the CNCA summary. Even there, a designated lab must do the type test first.

How to apply for a CCC certificate

You don't apply to SAMR or CNCA. You contract with a certification body that CNCA has designated for your product. Under the Provisions (Art. 10), the applicant can be the producer, the seller or the importer. A seller or importer must submit its contract with the manufacturer. In OEM cases you need the contract between the brand owner and the factory (Art. 11).

The process follows the CNCA implementation rule for your product group, such as CNCA-C01-01:2024 for wires and cables or CNCA-C07-01:2024 for household appliances. Eight general rules (CNCA-00C-001 to 008) cover shared requirements. The CNCA summary indexes them all. Each certification body then publishes its own detailed procedures, including documents, fees, certification units and critical components.

In practice the steps look like this, using the wires and cables rule as the example:

1. Submit the application form, the registration documents of the applicant, manufacturer and factory, and the technical documents the body asks for.
2. Send samples for type testing at a designated lab. Samples must match series production, and the applicant is responsible for that (Art. 13).
3. Get a factory inspection where your certification mode requires one. Not every product needs an initial inspection. The product rule and the factory's grading determine the mode. For cables, submit a factory quality self-assessment when no initial inspection is required.
4. Receive the certification decision and the certificate.

The cables rule requires critical components that are themselves CCC products to hold their own CCC certificates. Art. 16 of the Provisions says the certificate is normally issued within 90 days of acceptance. That isn't a fixed delivery date.

Since 1 January 2024, electronic CCC certificates are the default. You can still ask for paper, and both carry the same legal force.

After certification

A CCC certificate is valid for 5 years under Art. 22 of the Provisions. Apply to renew within the 90 days before it expires. Expect follow-up factory inspections and sampling at the factory or on the market (Arts. 17 and 19). How often depends on your factory grading. Changes to critical components, design or production site need approval before you make them (Art. 24). New models are added by extension (Art. 25).

What the CCC mark looks like

The CCC mark is an oval containing the letters "CCC". The current rules are the mark management requirements, Annex 2 to CNCA 2023 No. 12, in force since 1 January 2024. There are three forms:

• a standard-size label, bought from the certification body, with a black design on white and anti-counterfeit features
• a printed or moulded mark, applied by the certificate holder in any colour at proportional size
• an electronic mark shown on the product's integral screen

Standard labels come in five sizes, long axis by short axis, from 8 x 6.3 mm to 60 x 47 mm. Put the mark on the outer surface or nameplate. If the shape or size makes that impossible, use the smallest sales package or the accompanying documents. Imports must be marked before they enter China (mark requirements).

Old guides still show marks like CCC(S) or CCC(EMC). CNCA dropped the S, EMC, S&E, F and I suffixes from 20 March 2018. Printed and moulded marks also stopped needing approval or a fee at that point.

There's also a traceability QR code. Under CNCA 2025 No. 27, it sits next to the CCC mark on power banks, e-bikes and their safety accessories, and on gas-burning appliances and their safety accessories. New certificates in those groups need it from 1 March 2026. Every certified product in those groups needs it from 1 March 2027. Products already marked under the current rules, and already released, sold, imported or put into business use before that date, do not need a new mark.

Power banks face a second change. CNCA 2026 No. 7 brings in the new standard GB 47372-2026 and rule CNCA-C09-02:2026 from 1 April 2027. Existing power bank certificates must be converted before then.

Exemptions, customs and penalties

Some imports need neither CCC nor an exemption, such as diplomatic goods, travellers' personal items and foreign government aid. These are listed in Art. 41 of the Provisions. Art. 42 allows an exemption for R&D and test samples, repair parts for end users, production-line equipment (office supplies don't count), display-only items, temporary imports for re-export, parts for products that are exported whole, and other special uses.

Customs doesn't grant exemptions. Since 2019, local market regulators handle them through the online system at cccmb.cnca.cn. Get the exemption before the customs declaration. SAMR guidance sets review at 5 working days after acceptance. Customs then checks CCC certificates and marks at import (Art. 40).

Making, selling, importing or using a catalogue product without certification brings an order to correct, a fine of RMB 50,000 to 200,000 and confiscation of illegal gains (Regulations Art. 66). Selling a changed product without a change or extension application can bring a fine up to RMB 30,000 (Provisions Art. 54).

You can ask RegAffairs AI the same question and get a cited answer on CCC products, applications and the mark. For the full list of designated bodies by product, use CNCA's search.