China RoHS 2 Substance Limits Explained

China RoHS is administered under MIIT Order No. 32 of 2016, effective July 1, 2016, jointly issued by MIIT and 7 other ministries.

It operates a "compliance catalog + conformity assessment + post-market surveillance" system: only product categories added to the Catalog face mandatory hazardous-substance limits and conformity assessment.

The 2026 edition of the Compliance Management Catalog and its companion Exemption List took effect May 2026, replacing the previous "First Batch" catalog.

A new mandatory national standard, GB 26572-2025, expands the restricted-substances list from 6 to 10 and consolidates marking, disclosure and documentation requirements; it phases in with an implementation date of August 1, 2027.

Who must comply

Persons producing, selling or importing electrical and electronic products within China must, once their product category is added to the Compliance Catalog, meet the applicable substance limits and complete conformity assessment (voluntary certification or self-declaration) before the product enters the market.
Assessment results must be uploaded to China’s RoHS public-service platform for public and regulatory scrutiny.
GB 26572-2025 restricts 10 substances: 4 heavy metals (lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium) and 6 persistent organic pollutants (polybrominated biphenyls (PBB), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), and the phthalates DBP, DIBP, BBP and DEHP).

Deadlines

2016-07-01 — MIIT Order No. 32 (the current China RoHS management measures) takes effect. (MIIT — Order No. 32 announcement, as of 2026-09-27)
2025-08-22 — GB 26572-2025, China’s first mandatory national standard for hazardous-substance control in EEE, is approved and published, replacing the previous recommended (voluntary) standard GB/T 26572-2011. (MIIT — GB 26572-2025 announcement, as of 2026-09-27)
2026-05-28 — The 2026 edition of the Compliance Management Catalog and its Exemption List (MIIT 2026 Announcement No. 11) takes effect, repealing the previous "First Batch" catalog. (MIIT — 2026 Compliance Catalog announcement, as of 2026-09-27)
2027-08-01 — GB 26572-2025’s mandatory implementation date. (MIIT — GB 26572-2025 announcement, as of 2026-09-27)

How Rumzer helps

MatCheck covers China RoHS among the 20+ global regulations included in every plan, so teams selling into China can track it alongside EU RoHS and the rest of their material compliance program. Explore MatCheck

Sources

MIIT — Order No. 32 announcement — fetched 2026-09-27
MIIT — 2026 Compliance Catalog announcement — fetched 2026-09-27
MIIT — GB 26572-2025 announcement — fetched 2026-09-27
National Standards Information Public Service Platform — GB 26572-2025 — fetched 2026-09-27

Questions about China RoHS

What is China RoHS 2?

China RoHS 2 is the current management system for restricting hazardous substances in electrical and electronic products sold in China, run under MIIT Order No. 32. It works through a Compliance Catalog: only product categories added to the Catalog face mandatory substance limits and conformity assessment.

Is China RoHS mandatory?

It depends what you mean: the Compliance Catalog/conformity-assessment system under Order No. 32 is mandatory for listed product categories. The new national standard GB 26572-2025 that consolidates the substance limits and marking requirements is itself a mandatory ("GB," not "GB/T") standard, replacing a previously voluntary one.

What substances does China RoHS restrict?

Under GB 26572-2025, 10 substances: lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, PBB, PBDE, and the phthalates DBP, DIBP, BBP and DEHP.

How is China RoHS different from EU RoHS?

The two restrict an overlapping but not identical substance list and run on different legal and administrative systems — EU RoHS is a directive with EU-wide harmonised limits, while China RoHS uses a catalog-plus-conformity-assessment system that only applies once a product category is added to the catalog. See the EU RoHS page for that regulation’s specifics.