If a Chinese distributor sends you a sunscreen’s registration number, or you want to see which products a competitor has cleared for China, you can check the regulator’s own records without an account. The National Medical Products Administration (国家药品监督管理局, NMPA) runs a public data search site, but special cosmetics registrations and ordinary cosmetics filings (备案) are looked up in different places. Here is how the cosmetics tab is organised, how to run a first search, and what the official notes warn about.
Access: no login, new address at datasearch.nmpa.gov.cn
NMPA Data Search (数据查询) is an open lookup service: you type a keyword into the search box, with no registration or sign-in. The old address (www.nmpa.gov.cn/datasearch/) has been retired. Visiting it now brings up a notice pointing to the new address, datasearch.nmpa.gov.cn/datasearch/home-index.html.
The home page has four tabs: Drugs (药品), Medical Devices (医疗器械), Cosmetics (化妆品) and Other (其它). The header carries Home (首页), the Government Services Portal (政务服务门户) and Usage Tips (使用提示). Usage Tips launches a step-by-step walkthrough that highlights each part of the screen, starting with choosing a data category.
Running your first search
- Go to datasearch.nmpa.gov.cn and click the Cosmetics (化妆品) tab.
- Pick a database from the drop-down to the left of the search box, or from the list beneath it. The default is Domestic Special Cosmetics Registrations (国产特殊化妆品注册信息).
- Enter one of the values the placeholder text suggests for that database, such as a product name, registrant or certificate number. A partial keyword is enough to return matches.
- Click the magnifier. Results (搜索结果) open in a new tab, listing a row number, Chinese product name, Chinese registrant name, certificate number and approval status. The bottom of the page shows the total hit count, page navigation and a rows-per-page selector.
- Click Details (详情) at the end of a row to open that product’s record in another tab.
Cosmetics databases and what you can search by
| Database (original) | English | Searchable fields |
|---|---|---|
| 国产特殊化妆品注册信息 | Domestic special cosmetics registrations | Chinese product name, product category, Chinese registrant name, certificate number, approval status |
| 进口特殊化妆品注册信息 | Imported special cosmetics registrations | Chinese or foreign product name, product type, Chinese registrant name, certificate number |
| 进口化妆品(《化妆品监督管理条例》实施以前批准) | Imported cosmetics approved before the Cosmetics Supervision and Administration Regulation took effect | Chinese product name, category, approval status, approval number, product name remarks, Chinese manufacturer name |
| 化妆品新原料注册信息 | New cosmetic ingredient registrations | Standard Chinese name, certificate number, registrant (Chinese or foreign) |
| 化妆品新原料备案信息 | New cosmetic ingredient filings | Standard Chinese name, filing number, filer (Chinese or foreign) |
| 化妆品注册和备案检验检测机构 | Testing institutions for registration and filing | Number, institution name |
| 化妆品生产企业 | Cosmetics manufacturers | Licence number, manufacturer name, unified social credit code |
| 国产牙膏备案信息 | Domestic toothpaste filings | Product name, filing number, filer |
| 国产普通化妆品备案信息 | Domestic ordinary cosmetics filings | Links to a separate site (see below) |
| 进口普通化妆品（含牙膏）备案信息 | Imported ordinary cosmetics filings, including toothpaste | Links to a separate site (see below) |
| 已使用化妆品原料目录 | Inventory of used cosmetic ingredients | Links to a separate page |
Ordinary cosmetics filings live on a separate site
The two ordinary cosmetics databases are marked “link” (链接). Clicking either opens the cosmetics filing site, hzpba.nmpa.gov.cn, in a new tab: /gccx/ for domestic products and /jkcx/ for imports. According to the notes on each page, the domestic page also covers products from the former “domestic non-special-use cosmetics filings” (国产非特殊用途化妆品备案信息) database, and the import page covers the former imported non-special-use database.
- Enter whatever you know: product name (产品名称), filing number (备案编号), and either the filer’s company name (备案人企业名称) for domestic products or the China-based responsible person’s company name (境内责任人企业名称) for imports. The input boxes on the domestic page ask for the full product and company names.
- Type in the verification code (验证码) shown on screen and click Search (查询).
- The results list the product name, filing number, company name and filing date (备案日期). Each time you move to another page of results, you must enter the verification code again.
What a record page shows
| Field (original) | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 产品名称中文 / 产品名称外文 | Product name (Chinese / foreign) | Foreign name appears for imported products |
| 产品类别 | Product category | e.g. sunscreen (防晒类), spot removal and whitening (祛斑美白类) |
| 注册人中文 / 外文, 住所地址, 所在国/地区 | Registrant name, address, country or region | The company holding the certificate |
| 境内责任人名称 / 住所地址 | China-based responsible person and address | Shown for imported products |
| 生产信息 | Production information | Production arrangement, manufacturer name, addresses, country of origin and, for domestic products, the production licence number |
| 注册证号 / 批准日期 / 注册证有效期至 | Certificate number, approval date, valid until | Domestic numbers start 国妆特字, imports 国妆特进字 |
| 状态 | Status | 当前, 历史, 过期 or 注销 |
| 产品执行的标准 / 产品标签样稿 / 功效宣称依据摘要 | Product standard, label draft, summary of efficacy claim evidence | Open with View (查看) |
A side panel on each record offers Data Feedback (数据反馈), FAQ (常见问题), Print (打印页面) and Close (关闭页面). How to read each field is covered in a separate guide.
Limits and caveats in the official notes
- Status values: The site’s FAQ (基础数据常见问题) defines 当前 (current) as the latest valid approval, 历史 (historical) as a previously used approval, 过期 (expired) as an approval past its term, and 注销 (cancelled) as an approval that has been cancelled. When one product name returns several rows, check the status column before relying on a number.
- Not an endorsement of claims: The remarks field (备注) on special cosmetics records states that the NMPA did not review the efficacy the product claims, and that the certificate does not recognise that efficacy.
- Not for statistics: The same FAQ says the search lists are for lookup only and their totals are not a basis for statistics, so hit counts are a poor proxy for market size.
- Reporting errors: Companies can submit corrections through the Data Feedback button on a record page or call 010-88332877.
- Browser support on the filing site: The hzpba.nmpa.gov.cn search pages list Firefox, Google Chrome and IE 11.0 or later.
To check the registrant or responsible company itself, use GSXT, China’s national enterprise credit information system. For an importer’s customs credit rating, see the China Customs enterprise import and export credit platform.
Coming up · We may follow up with a guide to reading the record page itself, from product categories and production details to the efficacy claim summary.
