To help companies respond to these policy changes, CIRS Group, together with HPA-Global, is to host a free webinar on the Policy Trends in Cross-Border E-Commerce for Imported Health Foods & Blue Hat Registration and Filing on Wednesday, 12:00-13:00 pm (EST), August 12, 2026.

China’s SAMR has proposed updated health food registration rules, expanding regulations beyond wild species to cover all plant and animal ingredients. The draft tightens prohibitions on animal materials while easing certain cultivated plant restrictions. Businesses must ensure supply chain traceability, verify species lists, and adjust non-compliant product formulations.

In order to help enterprises better understand the filing status of health food (dietary supplements) in China, CIRS has gathered statistics on health foods approved in 2026 (as of June 30) and analyzed them from multiple perspectives.

According to the information released by the Center for Food Evaluation of the State Administration for Market Regulation and the Special Food Information Query Platform, a total of 1136 health food registration approvals were issued in the first half of 2026. Among these, 121 were for new health food products, including 3 imported products.

China’s SAMR has released Q&As on the implementation of the Administrative Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Entrusted Food Production (hereinafter referred to as the "Measures"), further clarifying the requirements for entrusted food production. Notably, the production of health foods cannot be outsourced in stages (split-stage production). The Measures will take effect on December 1, 2026; enterprises should prepare for compliance in advance.

Recently, CIRS Group has received numerous inquiries from health food companies regarding the registration of overseas manufacturing enterprises in China. Many companies have reported that when applying to the General Administration of Customs for registration in China, they are required to submit the registration certificate/filing certificate for health food; some companies have also reported that health foods imported through cross-border e-commerce are also required by customs to submit the registration certificate in China. In response to this question, CIRS Group has conducted extensive verification

On April 23, the China State Administration for Market Regulation issued a notice on “Deepening the Governance of the Internet Advertising Ecosystem” and simultaneously released the “Key Tasks for Regulating the Order of the Internet Advertising Market”. The rectification work will last for six months starting from the date of publication.

On April 2, 2026, the State Administration for Market Regulation released the “Catalog of Health Food Ingredients: Lycopene (Draft for Public Comment)”. The deadline for submitting comments and suggestions is May 10, 2026.

On January 15, 2026, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), in collaboration with the National Health Commission and the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, released the “Catalog of Permitted Health Function Claims for Health Foods: Helps maintain bone and joint health (alleviating Pain or stiffness/reducing cartilage damage)” along with supporting documents. These regulations took effect on January 1, 2026. This marks the first new function added to the health function catalog since the SAMR released the “Implementation Rules for New Functions and Product Technical Evaluation of Health Foods (Trial)” in 2023.

According to the information released by the Center for Food Evaluation, State Administration for Market Regulation and the Special Food Information Query Platform, in 2025, State Administration for Market Regulation issued a total of 2130 health food (dietary supplement) registration approvals. Among them, 200 approvals were for new health food products, including 194 domestic products and 6 imported products.