After the opening of the silver market on January 1, 2000, policies regulating China's silver industry were mainly adopted in the area of trade and circulation, with the specific policy being the import and export policies.

In terms of imports, the People's Bank of China and the General Administration of Customs in 1999 published the "Interim Measures on Silver Imports Management” (Yin Fa [1999] No. 414), and the rule came into effect on January 1, 2000, with silver powder, unwrought silver, semi-finished and finished silver products listed in the supervision directory. With the opening of the silver market, the People's Bank of China and the General Administration of Customs on November 19, 2007 announced the nullification of the "Interim Management Measures on Silver Imports”, liberalizing silver imports. Currently, China levies a 17% Value-added Tax (VAT) on imports of refined silver and silver products.

In terms of exports, the former Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic cooperation on  November 2, 1999, issued “The Interim Measures of Silver Export Management,” including silver powder, unwrought silver and semi-finished silver products into the supervision directory. Since then, silver exports have been subject to quotas management. According to the “Notice by the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation regarding the deduction of export tax rates on certain products”, published on June 18, 2007, export tax rates on silver and their related products were cut from 13% to 5% starting July 1. On July 30, 2008, the Ministry of Finance and State Administration of Taxation introduced new policies, scrapping the 5 percent export tax on silver products starting August 1, 2008.

China mainly imports silver processed products, and exports primary silver products, such as silver bullion. The rapid development of copper, lead, and zinc industries led to a substantial increase in the production of silver as byproducts, and the surplus silver needs to be exported. China’s silver export quota increased year by year, with the quota reaching 5,100 tons in 2010, compared with 200 tons in 2000. China’s export of silver bullion (unwrought silver) reached 3,554 tons in 2009, a 196 percent jump from 1199 tons in 2001, making China one of the worlds’s most important silver suppliers. However, China’s silver exports declined after the abolition of tax rebate policy on silver export in 2008.  Export of silver bullion totalled 1422 tons in 2010, down 60 percent from the previous year, while imports of semi-finished silver products totalled  3174 tons, down 8.79 percent.

　Source：The General Administration of Customs/ Antaike