Guide to Applying for FTA Preferential Certificates of Origin

Start With How Many Routes Exist

China has signed and brought into force more than twenty free trade agreements, covering over thirty countries and regions.

The same export shipment may therefore have several routes to a preferential rate.

Each route requires a certificate of origin issued under the corresponding agreement. The rules differ, and so do the certificate formats.

Format to Agreement

Form A

The generalised system of preferences certificate. Applies to GSP treatment granted by donor countries. As China’s economy has developed, most donors have graduated China out of their schemes, and Form A volumes have fallen sharply.

Form E

The China–ASEAN FTA certificate. Applies to the ten ASEAN member states.

Form B

The Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement certificate. Applies to Korea, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Laos and Mongolia.

Form F

The China–Chile FTA certificate.

Form R

The China–Peru FTA certificate.

Form X

The China–Singapore FTA certificate.

The RCEP certificate

Applies to trade among the fifteen RCEP members.

Other dedicated formats

China maintains separate certificate formats for Pakistan, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Iceland, Switzerland, Korea, Australia, Georgia, Mauritius and Cambodia.

How to Choose

Step one: is there an agreement at all

Not every trading partner has an FTA. China has no FTA with the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, Russia, Turkey, Morocco, Algeria, Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia or Sudan.

Without an agreement, there is no preferential certificate to discuss, and the MFN rate applies.

Step two: is the product in the concession list

Agreements do not cover identical product ranges. The same product may receive different treatment under different agreements.

A product that is duty-free under one agreement may sit outside the concession scope under another.

Step three: compare the rates

Where more than one agreement covers the shipment, compare the actual rates available under each.

Step four: can the product satisfy the origin rules

This is the step most often skipped and most often the cause of failure.

The lowest rate is irrelevant if the product does not meet the origin rules of that agreement. Those rules take the form of product-specific requirements, which must be checked line by line.

Common Scenarios

Exporting to Korea

Two routes: the China–Korea FTA, and RCEP.

The China–Korea FTA entered into force on 20 December 2015, and most lines have been stepping down for years. RCEP entered into force for China on 1 January 2022.

The staging differs. Some products are cheaper under the bilateral agreement, others under RCEP. Comparison must be product by product.

Exporting to ASEAN

Two routes: the China–ASEAN FTA on Form E, and RCEP.

Form E’s reduction process started earlier, and most lines are already at zero. The value of RCEP lies in wider cumulation: ASEAN, Japanese, Korean, Australian and New Zealand materials can be counted together.

For products with inputs drawn from several RCEP members, the RCEP route is easier to qualify.

Exporting to Australia and New Zealand

Both have bilateral FTAs and both are RCEP members.

ChAFTA entered into force on 20 December 2015, and its reductions are essentially complete. The China–New Zealand FTA is older, in force since 2008, with an upgrade protocol effective from 7 April 2022.

Exporting to Japan

Japan is an RCEP member, and China has no bilateral FTA with Japan.

This is one of RCEP’s most significant features: it established a free trade relationship between China and Japan for the first time.

For exports to Japan, RCEP is the only preferential route.

Errors to Avoid

Assuming an agreement guarantees a benefit

An agreement is a framework. Whether a specific product benefits depends on the concession schedule and the origin rules.

Using the wrong certificate format

Each agreement has its own format. Importing customs will reject the wrong one.

Doing the origin analysis once

Formulations change, suppliers change, rules are revised. Any of these can invalidate a prior conclusion.

Overlooking differences in cumulation

Bilateral cumulation is usually confined to the two parties. RCEP cumulation spans fifteen. For products with complex input sourcing, that gap is decisive.

A Practical Mechanism

The most workable approach is a lookup table keyed to each export tariff line:

Main destinations
Available agreements
Rate under each agreement
Product-specific rule under each agreement
Whether the company can actually satisfy it
Recommended route

Update the table annually. It turns a complex agreement landscape into an operating instruction the company can use directly.

*This article is based on China’s free trade agreements in force. Specific rates and origin rules are as published by GACC and CCPIT.*