Before you sign in China: a 90-day market entry checklist for US brands

Most of what makes or breaks a China market entry gets decided before anyone signs. Who holds your trademark? Whether you go cross-border or through general trade? Who owns the stores, the inventory and the data if the relationship ends? After signature, these are expensive to change, and sometimes impossible.

This checklist takes you through those decisions in the order they depend on each other, over roughly 90 days: what you already hold (days 1–30), how you will enter (days 31–60), and what has to be in place before you sign (days 61–90). Treat the 90 days as the time to start and decide, not to finish. A trademark can take years to register [1], and consultancies put a health-food filing at six to twelve months, with full registration taking longer [2].

Three things to know before you start:

1. Rights come first. China gives trademark rights to whoever files first, not whoever used the mark first [3]. If you already have an operator or distributor in China, who holds the trademark and what the exit terms look like decide how much leverage you have.
2. Your entry route sets your compliance burden. Cross-border ecommerce (CBEC) is treated as personal-use import and is typically not subject to first-import licensing, registration or filing [4]. That lighter treatment comes with limits on category, claims and channel, and it doesn't carry over if you later move into general trade [4][5].
3. The rules keep moving. The Trademark Law was revised in June 2026 and takes effect on January 1, 2027 [6]. New customs rules for overseas food manufacturers took effect on June 1, 2026, with CBEC currently outside their scope [7][8]. In July 2026 the market regulator put draft health-food raw-material rules out for comment [9].

Days 1–30: Know what you already hold

China trademark registration: file first, and file the Chinese name

China is a first-to-file system. The US Commerce Department's China intellectual property guide warns that it lets bad-faith filers register a foreign brand's mark and then hold it for ransom or trade on its reputation, and that a mark registered outside China doesn't protect you inside it [3].

What to do:

1. Register the Chinese name as well as the English one. Chinese shoppers and platforms will call your brand something in Chinese whether or not you choose the name, and if you haven't registered it, someone else may [1]. A Chinese name needs its own application. It can be a transliteration, a translation, or a created name, and each has different commercial consequences [1].
2. Start filing in the first week. The trademark office can take years to issue a registration [1].Don't plan on winning a squatted mark back. If someone has already registered your name in China, don't count on getting it back. You'd have to prove they filed in bad faith, and that's difficult and costly [10].
3. If you already have a China partner, find out whose name the marks are in. A China trademark held in the brand's name is an advantage when you open official flagship stores, and getting the registrations transferred to the brand is the first step in almost any change of operating model.

Your footprint: what is already for sale

Your products may already be sold in China by unauthorized sellers or personal shoppers (daigou). The main brand-safety problems we see are unauthorized distribution, suspected counterfeits and price inconsistency across marketplaces.

Know the legal backdrop. China's E-Commerce Law applies to cross-border ecommerce and, in principle, requires ecommerce operators to register as market entities [11]. Rights holders can ask platforms to delete, block or disconnect links to infringing listings [11]. In our experience that is how most problems actually get solved: platform takedowns and pre-litigation steps, with court cases the exception.

Do this audit before you open an official store. Otherwise your first weeks can go on competing on price with your own product.

If you have an existing operator, write down who holds each of four things: the trademark registrations, the inventory, the store accounts and your data. Trademark ownership, inventory and data rights are the first items on the legal list when a brand changes models.

Selling supplements in China: the Blue Hat and ingredient checks

• Is it a "health food" in China, and will you need a Blue Hat? A product sold abroad as a dietary supplement may not fall into the same category in China [12]. In China, supplements are regulated as health food by the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) [13][14]. The approval mark that comes with that status is what the trade calls the "Blue Hat" [15]. If you want to sell through general trade, meaning domestic ecommerce, pharmacies, supermarkets or offline retail, you generally need it [16]. Cross-border ecommerce is the exception: listed products sold there don't need a Blue Hat, according to the USDA's 2026 China food import regulations report [4][16]. So the Blue Hat question is really a route question, and you'll settle it in the next phase. But the lead time is long enough that you need to understand it now.
• Check every ingredient. China publishes a notice on health-food raw materials that sets out what is permitted and what is prohibited [13]. Importing a prohibited ingredient is the kind of problem that brands need to catch early. And the list is not static: in July 2026 SAMR released drafts that would tighten restrictions on animal-derived raw materials and slightly relax them for plant-derived ones [9].

Expect the screen to take some SKUs out. Line up substitutes before you run it, not after.

Days 31–60: Decide how you will enter

Cross-border ecommerce (CBEC) or general trade?

This is the biggest single choice in the process. It sets the compliance load, the channels open to you, and what you have to change on the product. Here's how the two routes compare on the same six points.

Pick an operating model with the exit in mind

There are three broad options: a third-party operator (TP), a distributor that buys and resells, or running it yourself. Don't pick on day-one cost. Pick on who owns the trademark, the stores, the inventory and the data when the relationship ends.

Two practical points. A notice period for a transition should be agreed up front: in one transition we've seen, the brand wanted six months' notice before moving away from its distributor. And repurchase of inventory on termination is a standard negotiating point in distribution agreements. Both are far easier to agree before launch than after.

Get the money terms on the same page

You can't compare proposals until the definitions match.

• Delivery basis. Ex-works and delivered-duty-paid quotes can't be set side by side. Settle which one you're comparing before you look at price.
• Price anchor. Is the purchase price tied to the MSRP, to a minimum advertised price, or to actual selling prices?

Build the P&L SKU by SKU, not from a blended margin. And budget for real marketing money: in a crowded, highly competitive market, advertising spend is what moves the numbers.

Protect your US price

Price differences across Chinese marketplaces are a brand-safety problem in their own right, and the goal should be a consistent price for the consumer. Decide how wide a gap you'll tolerate across platforms, and check it against your US pricing policy before launch.

Put data rights in the contract

Spell out what you'll get and how often: sales by platform and SKU, ad performance, customer-level metrics, reviews. Several brands now make data transparency a condition of choosing a partner. Put the reporting obligation in the agreement itself, not in a side letter.

Days 61–90: Be ready to sign

Sequence your platforms on purpose

Many brands see a flagship store first as proof that they are the official seller, and as the base for launching new products. Sales come second. For supplements, a flagship store on a domestic (non-cross-border) platform generally means general trade, and therefore a Blue Hat, while cross-border brands open cross-border stores instead [16].

The bigger risk is concentration. We've seen a brand get almost all of its China sales from creator-led livestreams on a single platform. That is fragile, particularly while regulators are paying closer attention to influencer marketing. Another brand was worried about depending on one platform whose sales were declining.

Tmall should be the main marketplace in China where brands do most of their long-term brand building and where they build up a base of high-quality customers. A decline on Tmall needs a real explanation before any budget moves to another platform, because it means the brand is losing ground where its most valuable customers are built. Selling on several platforms helps with both: it limits exposure to any one platform's rules and algorithms, and it lets the brand grow elsewhere without letting its strongest base erode.

Tmall flagship store requirements and other platform documents

Flagship stores are gated by proof of brand rights. Expect to provide a trademark registration certificate (some platforms accept an application receipt), authorization from the brand owner if you are not the owner, company qualification documents and, for cross-border stores, a certificate of origin [23][24]. This is where the trademark work in the first 30 days pays off: no certificate, no flagship store. Check the current requirements for each platform, because they change.

Have your brand-protection kit ready

Prepare takedown materials before launch: trademark certificates, authorization letters, proof that your products are genuine, and access to each platform's complaint process. The E-Commerce Law lets rights holders ask platforms to delete, block or disconnect links to infringing listings [11], and in our experience that is how most problems are resolved.

Work back from 618 and Double 11

China's retail year has two big promotional peaks: 618 in mid-June and Double 11 in November. Double 11 is the larger, and 618 is the biggest event of the mid-year [25]. Both shape when brands spend on advertising and when they need stock in place.

Platforms set the promotion windows and mechanics, and they change them from year to year. Tmall, for example, dropped presales for 618 after almost a decade of using them [26]. Check each platform's current calendar and rules rather than assuming last year's pattern.

Plan early. Preparation for a peak typically starts about two months ahead [27], and creator seeding can start as early as that [28]. In our experience, brands build their performance advertising and creator campaigns around the two promotion events. Work backwards from the peak you are aiming for and fix four dates: when stock must be in the warehouse, when listings must be live, when content and creators must be lined up, and when approvals must be done. If your launch falls between peaks, choose which peak you are targeting and set the milestones from there.

Planning your China market entry with Pattern

Pattern helps brands work through these decisions with China Accelerator, with local teams managing inventory and operations, and as a Gold Trading Partner on Tmall Global. Supplement brands including Thorne and Swanson have launched in China with Pattern. Talk to our China team.

References

[1] Harris & Sliwoski. "How and Why to Trademark in China." China Law Blog.

[2] TMO Group. "'Blue Hat' Certificate: 3 Options for Selling Health Food in China."

[3] U.S. International Trade Administration. "China – Protecting Intellectual Property." China Country Commercial Guide.

[4] U.S. Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service. "Food and Agricultural Import Regulations and Standards (FAIRS) Country Report – Annual: China." Report CH2026-0026. April 2026.

[5] U.S. Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service. "Food and Agricultural Import Regulations and Standards (FAIRS) Country Report – Annual: China." Report CH2025-0060. 2025.

[6] China National Intellectual Property Administration (reporting Xinhua). "China Revises Trademark Law." June 26, 2026.

[7] U.S. Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service. "Decree 280 – GACC Update to Overseas Food Facility Registration." Report CH2025-0204. 2025.

[8] China Briefing (Dezan Shira & Associates). "GAC Overseas Food Manufacturer Registration: A Guide for Exporters." 2026.

[9] CIRS Group. "China Proposes New Health Food Registration Rules: Stricter Animal Raw Material Bans, Eased Plant Material Restrictions." July 2026.

[10] Rouse. "Best Defence Is Offence: Arming Yourself Against Trade Mark Squatters in China." 2018.

[11] Buren Legal. "1 January 2019: New Chinese E-Commerce Law Effective." November 28, 2018.

[12] REACH24H. "China Health Food Registration and Filing Services."

[13] New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries. "F47/23: China Health Food." For Your Information. December 18, 2023.

[14] CIRS Group. "SAMR Health Food (Dietary Supplement) Registration/Filing in China."

[15] E-Commerce China Agency. "China Product Registration by Industry: What to Clear First."

[16] REACH24H. "China Health Food Registration and Filing Services" (market entry strategy: CBEC versus Blue Hat).

[17] TMO Group. "China Market Entry: A 2025 Guide for Foreign Supplement Brands." 2025.

[18] ChemLinked (CIRS Group). "China Health Food Regulation."

[19] General Administration of Customs of China. "Regulations on the Registration and Administration of Overseas Manufacturers of Imported Food" (GACC Order No. 280). Issued October 14, 2025; effective June 1, 2026. English text as republished by cceeccic.org.

[20] Ministry of Finance, General Administration of Customs, State Taxation Administration. "Circular on Improving the Import Tax Policy on Cross-border E-commerce Retail" (Cai Guan Shui [2018] No. 49). Issued November 29, 2018; effective January 1, 2019. English text as published by China Law & Practice, December 19, 2018.

[21] China Services Info. "Policies Refined to Boost Cross-border E-commerce" (reporting the State Council executive meeting of November 21, 2018).

[22] "Customs Q&A: Taxes on Cross-Border E-Commerce Retail Imports." People's Daily Overseas Edition, November 18, 2025 (customs question-and-answer), as republished by cceeccic.org.

[23] Daxue Consulting. "Tmall Store."

[24] Sinorbis. "Tmall Ecosystem: What You Need to Know."

[25] eMarketer. "What Brands Can Learn from China's Fast-Growing 618 Shopping Festival."

[26] Yicai Global. "Alibaba's Tmall Cancels Presale Model for 618 E-Commerce Festival."

[27] SmartBrief. Lessons from China's 618 festival, with comments from Azoya's managing director.

[28] WalkTheChat. "618 Mid-Year Shopping Festival."