MOFCOM Export Licence Application: What the Buyer Supplies, and When the Clock Starts

If you buy a controlled material out of China, you cannot apply for the export licence. The Regulations on Export Control of Dual-Use Items (State Council Order No. 792, in force since December 1, 2024) put the application on the exporter, and MOFCOM's filing guide requires the exporter to be a Chinese entity and the importer a foreign one. You never see the form, never receive the decision, and have no channel to the ministry.

Yet much of what sends an application back sits on documents only the buyer can produce. MOFCOM's guide of March 28, 2025 lists the common errors it sees: an end-user certificate without a handwritten signature, end-use wording too general or different between languages, an end-user address that does not match the contract's destination, company profiles too thin to justify the quantity. Each of those starts on the buyer's desk — and a file returned for supplementation does not resume where it stopped. Its review period starts again.

This article follows the application from the buyer's seat: what goes in, which parts are yours, how the review clock runs, what the licence permits, and what you have promised after delivery. Which items are controlled is in our export-controls timeline; structuring a purchase around licensing risk is in the procurement strategy guide.

Who Files, and Through What

Order No. 792 Article 14 says the exporter "shall" apply to MOFCOM; the exporter also decides, from the item's performance indicators and main uses, whether it is dual-use at all, and may consult MOFCOM if it cannot tell. The old registration of dual-use exporters has been abolished, so a supplier can apply directly.

The route, per MOFCOM's 2025 guide, runs through the ministry's unified online platform and is described as paperless end to end — with one exception that matters to you. The exporter files online and sends required paper to its provincial commerce department, which forwards applications meeting basic requirements to MOFCOM. MOFCOM reviews, with other departments where needed, issues an electronic approval, and the exporter collects the licence through the provincial system. Progress is visible only in the exporter's account; MOFCOM does not give it by phone. There is no fee.

The exception: the original end-user and end-use certificate, together with the signed and sealed application form, must be lodged on paper with that provincial department. The wet-ink document you sign has to physically reach your supplier's provincial office before the file is complete.

What Goes Into the File — and Which Parts Are Yours

Article 16 lists the contents of a single-licence application: the form; identity documents of the exporter's legal representative, principal manager and handling officer; the contract; a technical description or test report; the end-user and end-use certificate; and "other materials" MOFCOM requires. MOFCOM's working list adds one under that heading: a profile of the importer and end user, with a Chinese translation. Sorted by who produces what, the buyer's share is larger than it looks.

The certificate is yours, or your customer's if you are not the end user. It has its own section below.

The profile is yours. MOFCOM lists the company's legal-person details, date of establishment, business scope, asset size, headcount, website and main products, and says the profile may also include photographs of actual production, product photos and past cooperation.

The quantity explanation is formally the exporter's, but MOFCOM says it can draw on export history to that end user and on the end user's scale, production capacity and downstream demand. Those inputs come from you.

The contract is joint and must agree with the application on contract number, date, consignee, importer, end user, specification, quantity, unit and price. MOFCOM recommends, without requiring, export-control compliance clauses. One application normally covers one contract; splitting a contract across applications needs a written reason, and the applications together cannot exceed it.

If there is an intermediary between importer and end user, MOFCOM allows it to be the consignee but asks for an explanation or the contracts linking intermediary, importer and end user — and "where necessary" a document in which the intermediary commits to compliant trade. Goods not travelling directly to the destination country need the reason and the actual route.

The exporter produces the rest — the 31-field form, signed by hand by its legal representative (a signature stamp is not accepted), the control and HS codes, quantities in kilograms, and the technical description. That description must state the actual values of the indicators the control list names; MOFCOM's graphite example lists purity, flexural strength and density. If your specification does not carry those values, your supplier cannot write them.

The End-User and End-Use Certificate

The name. The regulation calls it the 最终用户和最终用途证明文件, and MOFCOM's template is headed 最终用户和最终用途证明 — in English, "End-User and End-Use Certificate." Order No. 792 uses 说明 in Article 37 for a different instrument: a statement MOFCOM issues to foreign governments for Chinese importers. The export application needs the 证明, not that 说明 document.

Who issues it. Article 24 says the exporter shall submit a certificate issued by the end user, and MOFCOM may require, at the same time, one issued or authenticated by a government body in the end user's country — in addition to the end user's own, not instead of it. None of the texts we read — Order No. 792, the Export Control Law, the 2025 guide, the template — mentions notarisation, apostille or consular legalisation.

What it says. Addressed to the Ministry of Commerce, it gives the end user's name and address, the item, the Chinese exporter's name and the contract number, and two commitments: not to transfer the item to a third party without the Chinese government's consent, and to use it only for the stated end use and never for weapons of mass destruction or their delivery systems. Then a signature/stamp line, printed name and title, company name — the guide, as the next paragraph says, wants both. There is no field for quantity, value or validity. The template on MOFCOM's site dates from 2017 or earlier; whether a post-Order-792 version exists, we could not confirm.

How it is executed. The guide asks for the template followed with details and commitments complete, an English original bearing the handwritten signature of a responsible person and the company seal, and a Chinese translation sealed by the exporter to confirm accuracy. A foreign company without an official seal must have the reason explained in the file; the guide does not say which of a Korean company's seals it expects. Whether a Korean-language original would be accepted, we found nothing either way.

The end-use line. It must be "specific, accurate and targeted, rather than a general statement of the field of use," and identical across application and certificate, Chinese and English. MOFCOM's own graphite example: "used to produce refractory bricks, flame retardants." MOFCOM's error list rejects end uses that are "too general"; a line such as "for industrial use" names a field, not a use, which is exactly what field 22 says not to do. Write it once in both languages and reuse it verbatim.

The certificate must also match contract and application on contract number, product name, exporter name, end-user name and address, and end use.

How the 45 Working Days Actually Run

Article 17 gives MOFCOM 45 working days. Read the sentence, not the number.

• It runs from acceptance (受理), not submission. Time before acceptance is outside it, and we found no published figure for the provincial forwarding stage.
• It restarts on supplementation. MOFCOM's FAQ counts a returned file's period from receipt of complete materials. A file returned on day 29 for a missing signature does not have 16 days left; it has 45 again.
• Some time is not counted: identification of the item, expert opinions, and on-site checks of the exporter or the end user.
• Some cases have no limit: referrals to the State Council (or with the Central Military Commission) for exports with a major bearing on national security and interests, and applications involving parties on MOFCOM's attention list.
• Countersignature by other departments "usually" takes no more than ten working days per department, per the FAQ, which does not say whether that sits inside the 45.

A refusal must be notified in writing — to the applicant, the exporter. You learn the outcome only through your supplier, which is why a contract clause triggered by a deadline rather than a refusal, set out in the procurement strategy guide, is the right shape.

MOFCOM publishes no actual processing times or approval rates. China Briefing (Dezan Shira & Associates), updated 2025-11-10, notes that actual approval times can exceed the nominal deadline; approval-rate figures from business associations cover particular periods and conflict with one another, and we do not quote one. What you can ask your supplier for is the date that means something: the acceptance date, not the filing date.

What the Licence Is, Once Issued

One export, one end user. Article 15 caps a single licence at one year and has it lapse once the export is completed.

The paper is usually shorter. MOFCOM's FAQ says single-licence certificates are generally issued for six months.

A certificate crossing into a new year has its own step. Under the 2005 licence-certificate measures, as promulgated, a certificate whose validity crosses into a new year may be used only until March 31 of that year, after which the issuing office reissues it for the original validity; MOFCOM's FAQ says such a certificate can be exchanged before March 31 for one showing its actual validity. The validity itself does not change — the replacement carries the same end date, which is the distinction from the December 31 wall on ordinary export licences drawn in the licence-deadline piece — but a cross-year certificate has to be swapped before it can be used after March 31.

Two open points. We could not confirm the current consolidated text of the 2005 measures, and a September 2025 draft revision, in the reproduction we read, carries no March 31 rule — whether it has been finalised, we could not confirm. Ask for the validity as printed and whether it crosses March 31.

One certificate, one declaration, one port. Each certificate covers a single customs declaration at a single port. An application can be split into at most twelve certificates — but not, MOFCOM says, where it covers several specifications or models. Monthly deliveries in three grades are a filing-design question before they are a logistics one.

Quantity is a ceiling. Bulk goods may overrun by up to 5%; otherwise the quantity cannot be exceeded. Samples are exports and need a licence like any shipment. Without the certificate, customs does not release (Article 21), and goods it suspects are controlled are held while it questions the consignor.

Changes come in two kinds. A change of item, destination, end user or end use requires a new application; the exporter surrenders the certificate and stops exporting (Article 18). Transport mode, port, a price adjustment or an extension go through a change application decided within 20 working days, generally once per certificate. Whether a quantity increase can be handled as a change, MOFCOM does not say; assume a new application until your supplier confirms otherwise in writing. A different customer before shipment is a new file; a transfer after delivery needs MOFCOM's permission under the commitment you signed.

After the Goods Arrive

Your commitment continues. Article 24 bars the end user from changing the end use or transferring the item to any third party without MOFCOM's permission.

The exporter must report actual transport, arrival, installation and use (Article 18). We found no rule on the form or deadline; presumably the arrival and use information will be requested from the buyer side.

The importer has its own duty. Under Article 25, an exporter or importer who finds the end use has changed or may change, or that the certificate is forged, altered or lapsed, must stop, report to MOFCOM and cooperate.

Verification is backed by a list. Where an importer or end user fails to cooperate with verification in time, Article 26 lets MOFCOM place it on an attention list: exporters cannot use a general licence or the registration route for that party, single-licence applications must carry a risk-assessment report and compliance commitment, and the review has no time limit. MOFCOM Announcement No. 12 of 2026, dated February 24, placed 20 Japanese entities on it because their end users and end uses could not be verified.

A Morgan Lewis note of July 1, 2026 reports a MOFCOM mechanism encouraging reports of suspected violations, effective that day, and that companies "are receiving significantly more detailed end use and end user due diligence requests from Chinese exporters."

What to Do Before Your Supplier Files

1. Draft the certificate on MOFCOM's template, in English, with your full legal name and address, the exporter's exact name, the contract number, the item name as the application will carry it, and a specific end use.
2. Sign by hand and seal it — a named responsible person with printed title — or give the exporter a written explanation if you have no equivalent seal. Courier the original.
3. Send the profile with it, plus the inputs for the quantity explanation: capacity, downstream demand, previous volumes.
4. Write the end use once, in Chinese and English, and reuse it verbatim in contract and certificate.
5. Make the contract match the certificate, and ship direct or give the routing and reason. If you buy through an intermediary, expect to provide the contract chain and possibly a compliance undertaking.
6. Plan deliveries before filing. Count shipments, grades and ports; more than twelve shipments, or a multi-grade order, changes how the application should be built.
7. Ask three dates: acceptance, issue, and the validity printed — including whether it crosses March 31.
8. Answer verification requests promptly when they reach you through your supplier; silence is what leads to the attention list.

In our own catalogue, the rare earth compounds category treats this procedure — classification, application, end-user certificate — as part of each item's lead time rather than a step after the order.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can we, or our forwarder, apply on the supplier's behalf?

No. Order No. 792 places the application on the Chinese exporter, and MOFCOM requires the exporter to be a Chinese entity and the importer a foreign one. What you control is the quality of the documents you give that exporter.

Does the end-user certificate need notarising or legalising?

None of the texts we read requires it. The baseline is the end user's own certificate, signed by hand and sealed; MOFCOM may additionally require one issued or authenticated by your government. Korea's Foreign Trade Act (Article 22) provides for an Import Purpose Certificate, issued at the ministry's discretion, for items on Korea's own strategic list. Whether MOFCOM accepts it as the government certification Article 24 refers to, we could not confirm.

Is approval guaranteed within 45 days?

No. It is 45 working days from acceptance, restarted on supplementation, excluding identification, expert consultation and on-site checks, and unlimited for national-security referrals and attention-list parties. MOFCOM publishes no actual processing times.

Our end customer has changed. Can the licence be amended?

No. A change of end user, end use, destination or item needs a new application, and the existing certificate is surrendered. Only non-key elements — transport mode, port, price adjustment, extension — go through a change procedure, decided within 20 working days and generally once per certificate.

References (Public Sources)

• Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Export Control of Dual-Use Items (State Council Order No. 792), signed September 30, 2024, in force December 1, 2024 — Articles 14–18, 21–22, 24–26 and 37.
• Ministry of Justice and MOFCOM answers to press questions on Order No. 792, October 20, 2024 — abolition of exporter registration.
• Export Control Law of the People's Republic of China, in force December 1, 2020 — Articles 13–16 and 19.
• MOFCOM export-control bureau, filing guide for dual-use export licence applications, with self-check points and a 66-question FAQ, March 28, 2025.
• MOFCOM End-User and End-Use Certificate template, from MOFCOM's dual-use import and export approval page.
• Measures for the Administration of Import and Export Licences for Dual-Use Items and Technologies (MOFCOM and General Administration of Customs Order No. 29 of 2005), text as promulgated.
• MOFCOM draft revision of the dual-use export licence administration measures, published for comment September 16, 2025, read through a published summary.
• MOFCOM Announcement No. 12 of 2026, February 24, 2026 — attention-list designations.
• Morgan Lewis LawFlash, July 1, 2026; China Briefing (Dezan Shira & Associates), 2025 — practitioner commentary.
• Foreign Trade Act of Korea, Article 22 — Import Purpose Certificate.

Several procedural points above rest on MOFCOM guidance rather than statute, and licensing practice can change without announcement. We recommend confirming the current position with counsel before relying on it commercially.

Nami Tech Solutions works project by project between Korean buyers and Chinese producers on items in this cluster, and runs the licence and end-user-certificate procedure as part of each order's lead time. Our part is the paperwork that comes from the buyer's side: drafting the certificate on MOFCOM's template with an end use that matches the contract word for word, checking it field by field before the original is couriered, and asking the exporter for the acceptance date and the printed validity, in Chinese, rather than waiting to be told.