Hi guys, I was uncertain on the above topic so it would be really helpfull some useful info. As a foreigner married to Chinese and living in china on marriage visa, what would be the challenge to bring your car into the country ? Any tips highly apriciate :) thanks!!!
I would look/post on the boards of the national car websites for more of a chance of getting an answer. I have only heard of one person importing classic cars to China, and he was well connected (and is now dead).
There is someone else on here, who imported second hand boats, and I think the authorities made it very difficult for him.
There are grey import cars in Kunming, but I think they are new vehicles brought across from Thailand.
I have heard that there is very heavy import duties on second hand machinery being brought into China.
If you are going to attempt this, do not go through customs in Kunming. Bring the car through one of the major sea ports, register it there, and then drive it up to Kunming.
Things to consider, you will not be able to find out how much it will cost you, until you have the final piece of paperwork paid for. It really is a risk.
If you sell the car where you are, you will lose some money. But then buying a used vehicle here is easy. It may or may not work out cheaper, but it will be a hell of a lot simpler, and you can control the cost.
For me, unless the car is really special, I wouldn't even try.
Suggest you contact a reputable and well-known logistics firm in your home country (example, santa fe moving and shipping) to arrange for door-to-door shipping. If you intend to live in Yunnan - strongly recommend the vehicle be shipped to Yunnan, so you can clear customs HERE, if possible and take delivery HERE.
I'd also have a LARGE, reputable, well-known, and respected attorneys' office with experience shipping personal vehicles, to take care of all paperwork. They'll cost about CNY 5k for the end-to-end process and will be well worth the money if they do their job shielding you from bureaucratic paperwork and attempts at illicit extortion. They can also help with the temporary operating plates/tags.
Assume you already know how and where to get temporary plates for the vehicle and you know where and how to have it inspected for street-legal tags and registration, and you already have or know how to get a Chinese driver's license.
Shipping the car may not be the issue. Getting it registered and licensed could be difficult.
Too many private cars in china already.
There are going to be huge duties, so unless you have rmb to burn, I wouldn't bother. It used to be possible to hongbao a customs official in sz and bring a personal vehicle over from hk, but those days are long gone.
Foreigners on long term residence permits are technically allowed to import one car for personal use in China duty free, subject to approval from the port that covers their region in China.
As far as I know, most port authorities interpret that as only applying to diplomatic staff though, so even if you can manage to convince them to approve yours, it will probably cost you a lot of time and money to push it through.
If you can get all that done, you still need to ship it here, which can be very expensive. There will also be tons of paperwork involved either way.
Anyone can import a car on their own, provided they pay the proper duties, but I believe you're only allowed to import new cars. Used cars, even your own, are not allowed through normal channels.
In short, it's basically not worth it unless the car is really special for some reason. You'd probably be better off selling it back home and buying something here.
Not yet mentioned is insurance. I am not sure about China, but in many markets it is difficult and more expensive to insure a vehicle that is not 'domestic' market. The main reason for difficulty is because the vehicle is not listed in the insurance companies tables.
The main reason it is expensive is because of the parts replacement for imported parts. Believe it or not, two cars of identical brand and model may not be identical in two markets. One of the most common differences is in colors. But even things like brakes, and lights can vary. Add to that, insurance companies always want to avoid giving a lower price.
Sounds like a lot of hassle. Sell the car and buy one here.
As far as I know, domestic cars are known to be pretty cheap. Plus, please note that cars that are over 15-20yrs old (I don't remember the exact number) are not allowed for use in China and are taken off the road.
