By:Global OEMsI. Core Practical Guide to the New Rules: 9 Key Questions Answered
(1) Application Time and Usage Cycle
Starting from December 17, 2025, enterprises can apply in advance for 2026 export licenses, which can be used for customs declaration and clearance from January 1, 2026. The valid period of the license is six months and cannot be used across years. The Ministry of Commerce will issue the next year's licenses in advance in mid-December each year to facilitate enterprises in arranging their export plans.
(2) Application Qualifications and Processing Path
- Applicant Entities: Following the principles of "one license, one code" and "who exports, who applies", all foreign trade operators can apply in accordance with the requirements;
- Issuing Authorities: Central State-owned Enterprises (SOEs) supervised by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) of the State Council in Beijing shall be issued by the License Bureau of the Ministry of Commerce, while other enterprises shall be issued by the competent commercial departments of provincial-level local governments or those of 8 sub-provincial cities including Shenyang, Wuhan, and Guangzhou;
- Processing Procedures: It is necessary to complete three steps: "applying for an electronic key → submitting materials online → customs clearance". For the application of the electronic key, please refer to the "Concise Process for Enterprise Electronic Key Application and Certificate Renewal (2024)" on the official website of the Ministry of Commerce, and then submit the application through the unified platform of the Ministry of Commerce's business system.
(3) Material Requirements and Filling Specifications
When applying for a license, enterprises need to submit two types of core materials:
- Export Contract: It shall be sealed by the Chinese party and signed or sealed by the foreign party to ensure the validity of the contract;
- Product Quality Inspection Qualification Certificate: Issued by the manufacturer independently, there is no fixed format or template. It shall be sealed with a quality inspection seal or official seal, and the scope of products covered and the valid period can be determined by the manufacturer independently.
Three key requirements must be met for filling in and uploading: First, the enterprise issuing the certificate must be consistent with the "manufacturer information"; second, the certificate number (if any) must be completely consistent with the filled-in number; third, the material information must be complete and accurate, in line with the requirements of the announcement and the prompts on the application page.
(4) Customs Clearance and Usage Rules
- Processing Trade and Compensation Trade Methods: Implement the "non-one-time license system", allowing multiple customs clearances within the valid period of the license, with a cumulative usage not exceeding 12 times;
- Other Trade Methods: Implement the "one-time license system", where one license corresponds to one customs clearance.
II. Behind the Restart of the Policy: An Inevitable Choice to Address Industry Difficulties
The introduction of this new policy directly targets the dual pressures faced by China's iron and steel exports in recent years:
On the one hand, from December 2021 to October 2025, affected by the decline in domestic demand, China's steel exports showed a passive situation of "increasing volume but decreasing price". The monthly export volume increased from 5.03 million tons to 9.78 million tons, a growth rate of 94.4%, while the cumulative export average price dropped by 65.5%. Low-price competition not only squeezes industry profits but also increases resource and environmental pressures;
On the other hand, trade frictions continue to escalate. From 2024 to 2025, countries and regions accounting for about 50% of China's total iron and steel exports have intensively initiated anti-dumping and countervailing investigations, with a total of 59 related litigation cases in two years, and the risk of trade conflicts continues to rise.
As a targeted regulatory measure, the restart of export license management this time does not set quantity restrictions nor restrict reasonable exports. Instead, it aims to crack down on low-price competition, reduce trade friction risks, and safeguard the high-quality development of the iron and steel industry by strengthening quality constraints and standardizing export order.
III. The Policy Sends Three Key Signals, and Industrial Transformation Is Imminent
Signal 1: Moving from "Scale Priority" to "Quality First"
The new policy clearly requires export enterprises to provide product quality inspection qualification certificates, which essentially screens high-quality production capacity through market-oriented means and eliminates low-value-added, high-energy-consuming, and low-quality crude steel products. This means that the state no longer supports extensive exports relying solely on price advantages, but guides the industry to shift the focus of competition to product quality and improvement.
Signal 2: Forcing Industrial Upgrading, Focusing on Technology and Brands
Enterprises lacking core technologies and relying on low-end production capacity will face greater survival pressure, while enterprises that delve into technological research and development, build brand advantages, and enhance product added value will gain broader market space. Through indirect regulation, the policy promotes the transformation of the iron and steel industry from "quantity expansion" to "quality and efficiency", accelerating the optimization and upgrading of the industrial structure.
Signal 3: Standardizing Export Order and Preventing Trade Risks
The implementation of license management will make China's iron and steel export data more transparent and trade behaviors more standardized, helping to reduce overseas misunderstandings about China's "non-market-oriented competition", lower the frequency of trade remedy measures such as anti-dumping investigations, and create a more stable and predictable international trade environment for the industry.
Conclusion
The restart of the iron and steel export license management new rules after 16 years is not only a pragmatic measure to address the current industry difficulties but also a strategic deployment to promote the high-quality development of the industry. For export enterprises, it is necessary to quickly familiarize themselves with the application process, prepare relevant materials, and ensure compliant operations; more importantly, grasp the policy orientation, take the initiative to increase investment in technological research and development, improve product quality and brand value, and seize opportunities in the wave of industrial transformation. In the future, the core competition of the iron and steel industry will no longer be price and scale, but the comprehensive strength of technology, quality, and brand. Only those who adapt to the trend can achieve stable and long-term development.
