1. What a free sale certificate is
A free sale certificate, sometimes called a certificate of free sale, is issued by a Chinese authority confirming that a product is manufactured and freely sold in China.
It is a product document, not a company document, and it is used for product registration abroad.
2. Which authority issues it
The issuing authority depends on the product category.
Medical devices and medicinal products: the National Medical Products Administration.
Food and cosmetics: the State Administration for Market Regulation, or a provincial equivalent.
General consumer goods: CCPIT, where the authority is willing to certify that the product is freely sold in the Chinese market.
3. What it must contain
The content requirements come from the receiving authority.
Common elements:
Product name and model.
Manufacturer name and address.
The statement that the product is freely sold in China.
The issuing authority’s name, seal and signature.
Validity or issue date.
Where the receiving authority requires additional elements, such as the manufacturing site’s registration status or the product’s regulatory category, those must be present.
4. The registration requirement
Free sale certificates are used for product registration abroad, and most such registries require the certificate to be recent.
A certificate more than a year old is commonly rejected. Some registries require three months.
5. The legalization route
Depends on the destination.
Convention party: apostille the notarized certificate, or the certificate directly if the foreign affairs office accepts it.
Not a party: consular legalization through the full chain.
Where the destination requires the certificate to be attested by CCPIT first, that comes before notarization.
6. The translation
Required for registration, in the destination’s language.
The translation must correspond precisely to the certificate, including the issuing authority’s name.
7. The product-specific route
The certificate path depends on the product category, which makes the process product-specific rather than generic.
For medical devices, the NMPA route applies, and the certificate content is determined by the device’s registration status.
For food, the market regulator route applies.
For general goods, the CCPIT route may be appropriate, though some foreign registries do not accept a CCPIT-issued free sale certificate for food or cosmetic products.
Confirm with the receiving registry which issuing authority it accepts before applying.
8. Common errors
Wrong issuing authority
A CCPIT certificate submitted for a food registration that requires the market regulator’s certificate.
Certificate too old
Registration timelines are long, and the certificate ages during the process.
Missing content elements
The receiving registry’s requirements are specific.
No translation, or an inaccurate one
The issuing authority’s name is commonly mistranslated.
Legalization route wrong for the destination
Apostille where consular is required, or the reverse.
9. Timing
Certificate issuance: one to four weeks depending on the authority and the product.
Legalization: one to two weeks for apostille, two to three weeks for consular.
Translation: a few days.
Product registration: weeks to months, and the certificate has to stay valid for the whole period.
10. Closing view
The free sale certificate is a small document in a long process, and its timing is the awkward part: it has to be recent at the start and valid through a registration that takes months.
Plan the certificate’s date around the registration’s duration rather than around the shipment.
*This article is based on Chinese free sale certificate issuance practice and the consular authentication guidance published by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, updated October 2026. Exporters should confirm requirements with the receiving registry.*