4. Labeling Requirements

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4. Labeling Requirements

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Beers, RTDs, Whisky
China

This section provides information on labeling requirements and the label approval process.

4.1 Mandatory Labeling Parameters

General Foods

According to GB 7718-2011 Food Safety National Standard - Pre-packaged food labeling General rules [1] and “Regulations of the People's Republic of China on the Registration and Administration of Overseas Manufacturers of Imported Food" [2], the General Foods label requirements are listed below:

Mandatory content:

Name of the food
List of ingredients
Quantitative labeling of the ingredients
Net Weight and Configuration
Name, address, and contact information of the manufacturer and distributor
Manufacturing Data (year/month/day) (drinks with an alcohol content greater than or equal to 10% are exempt from the shelf-life label)
Storage conditions
For import food: GACC Overseas Manufacturers Registration Code
Product Implementation Standard (import food is exempt)
Other mandatory labeling information (irradiated food, GMO label, nutrition label, product grade, product sub-category, etc.）

Recommended/voluntary content:

Batch numbers
Instructions for use
Allergen:
1. Grain and its products containing gluten protein (for example: wheat, rye, barley, spelt, or their crossbreeding products)
2. Crustacean animal and its products (for example: shrimp, lobster, crab, and so on)
3. Fish and its products
4. Egg and its products
5. Peanut and its products
6. Soybean and its products
7. Milk and dairy products (including lactose)
8. Nut and its products
Other information (if any)

On March 16, 2025, the NHC released the GB 7718-2025 Food Safety National Standard - Pre-packaged Food Labeling General rules [3], which will be in force from March 16, 2027. On March 14, 2025, the SAMR released the “Measures for supervision and administration of food labeling” [4], which also will be in force from March 16, 2027. Both regulations have a transition period of two years. These two new food label regulations jointly stipulate the General Food label requirements:

Mandatory content:

Name of the food
List of ingredients
Quantitative labeling of the ingredients
Net Weight and Configuration
Name, address, and contact information of the manufacturer and distributor
Manufacturing Data and Expiration Date (year/month/day) (drinks with an alcohol content greater than or equal to 10% are exempt from the shelf-life label; if foods with a shelf life of 6 months or more, and when the maximum surface area of the food packaging or packaging container does not exceed 20cm ², only the shelf life and the expiration date of the shelf life may be indicated.)
Storage conditions
For import food: GACC Overseas Manufacturers Registration Code
Product Implementation Standard (import food is exempt)
Allergen:
1. Gluten-containing grains and their products (such as wheat, rye, barley, oats, Spelt wheat, or their hybrid varieties).
2. Crustacean animal and its products (for example shrimp, lobster, crab, and so on)
3. Fish and its products
4. Egg and its products
5. Peanut and its products
6. Soybean and its products
7. Milk and dairy products (including lactose)
8. Nut and its products

Note: D.4 The following highly processed ingredients, which have removed the protein components that may cause allergic reactions, are exempt from allergen labeling: a) Soy and peanut processed products: refined soybean oil, refined peanut oil, soy-derived peptides, phospholipids, vitamin E, phytosterols, phytosterol esters and phytostanol esters, xanthan gum b) Grain processed products: starch, dextrin, glucose syrup, refined vegetable oil from grains c) Aquatic product processed products: chitin, chitosan, fish gelatin, refined fish oil, DHA from fish oil d) Dairy processed products: lactitol.

Notes: D.5 Other situations exempt from allergen labeling : a) Products with a single ingredient that is an allergen, if the name of the allergen is already clearly indicated in the product name, can be exempt from repeated labeling b) Edible alcohol, distilled spirits.

11. Nutrition label

12. Warning or Cautions

13. Irradiated processed food label

14. Food claims (describe the characteristics, features, and features of food, food ingredients, or components)

15. Other regulations or standards required to label information

Recommended/voluntary content:

Batch numbers
Instructions for use
Other information (if any)

According to GB 7718-2025 Food Safety National Standard - Pre-packaged Food Labeling General rules [3]:

Requirements for Digital Labels

It is encouraged that food producers, while ensuring that the prepackaged food labels comply with the requirements of this standard, also display food label information through digital labels.
The content displayed on digital labels should comply with laws, regulations, and national food safety standards, and should be consistent with the food label information simultaneously displayed on the food packaging.
When using digital labels, digital means that comply with national standards should be used to provide digital labels, and their identity should be clearly indicated nearby with words such as "Digital Label" or similar expressions.
Digital labels should be provided in an easily accessible form, and it is encouraged to be compatible with multiple identification methods. The content indicated on digital labels should be directly displayed on the first-level page after reading and should not have any interfering elements that affect normal reading.
The content indicated on digital labels should be clear, prominent, and easy to read, and should not be tampered with. Food producers may provide digital labels based on the needs of specific consumer groups, such as providing food information through video and voice reading in addition to text labels.
If digital labels have indicated the matters that should be marked on prepackaged food, the label information on the prepackaged food packaging can be simplified in accordance with relevant regulations.
Where there are clear provisions in laws, regulations, food safety standards, and relevant departments of the State Council, such provisions shall prevail.

According to the “Measures for Supervision and Administration of Food Labeling” [4], food labeling shall NOT include the following contents:

Claims involving disease prevention or treatment functions;
False descriptions made in a deceptive, misleading, or exaggerated manner;
Contents that violate scientific common sense, go against public order and good morals, or promote feudal superstitions;
Labels such as "for special supply," "for exclusive supply," or "for internal supply" to government agencies, the military, or other similar entities;
Other contents prohibited by laws, regulations, rules, and national food safety standards.

Food products other than health foods shall NOT claim to have health functions (effects) in their labeling.

Category

Alcoholic drinks

In addition to the General Foods requirements above, the below applies:

Labels of distilled liquor and its integrated liquor shall comply with the provisions of GB 7718-2011 Food Safety National standard - Pre-packaged Food Labeling General rules [3], except for the labels of alcohol content, warning, and shelf life:

Alcohol content shall be marked in "%vol".
"Excessive alcohol consumption is harmful to health" should be marked, and other warnings may also be marked.
Drinks with an alcohol content greater than or equal to 10% vol are exempt from the shelf-life marking.

According to the GB 7718-2025 Food Safety National Standard - Pre-packaged Food Labeling General rules [3]:

Wine and alcoholic beverages with an alcohol content of 10% vol or higher: If the production date is clearly indicated, the following prepackaged foods may be exempt from labeling the shelf life and the expiration date.
Wine and alcoholic beverages with an alcohol content of 10% or more: Provided that the batch number is indicated, the production date may be exempted from being indicated.

Product

Beer

In addition to the General Foods requirements above, specific requirements for Beer include:

Mandatory product label include product name, raw material, alcohol, original wort, net content, manufacturer's name and address, and filling (manufacturing date, shelf life, execution standard number, and quality grade).
The beer packaged in glass bottles should also have printed on the label, label, or outer package a "warning" - "Do not impact to prevent bottle explosion".

According to the GB 7718-2025 Food Safety National Standard - Pre-packaged Food Labeling General rules [3]:

Wine and alcoholic beverages with an alcohol content of 10% vol or higher: If the production date is clearly indicated, the following prepackaged foods may be exempt from labeling the shelf life and the expiration date.
Wine and alcoholic beverages with an alcohol content of 10% or more: Provided that the batch number is indicated, the production date may be exempted from being indicated.

Ready-to-drink beverages (mainly Chuhai)

Please refer to the requirements under "General Foods" and "Category" (alcoholic drinks) above.

Whisky

According to the Quality Requirements of Brewing Material— Part 2: Brewing Malt (Draft for Approval) [5] (please note that only the final officially released version shall be considered for implementation), in addition to the General Food and alcoholic drinks requirements:

Whisky should be labeled with the product type in accordance with the classification in standard 4. Product Classification (classified by raw materials and production processes as: malt whisky, grain whisky, blended whisky, and flavored whisky).
For grain whisky, if the proportion of any one grain raw material exceeds 51% (by mass fraction), it can be labeled as "grain name + grain whisky" with the proportion exceeding 51% (by mass fraction), such as rye grain whisky or sorghum grain whisky. When the proportion of each grain does not exceed 51% (by mass fraction), it should be directly labeled as "grain whisky".
Whisky is recommended to be labeled with the age of the spirit. The age indicated should be the minimum age of the spirits used in the product.
If oak chips are used in the aging process of grain whisky or blended whisky, it should be indicated on the label.
If the sweetening substances (calculated as reducing sugar) in the final product of flavored whisky exceed 5 g/L, the total sugar content (calculated as reducing sugar) or its range should also be indicated.
In addition to the product name, manufacturer's name, and address, the outer packaging carton should also indicate the net content and total quantity of each unit package.
The packaging and storage transportation pictorial marks should comply with the requirements of GB/T 191.

According to the GB 7718-2025 Food Safety National Standard - Pre-packaged Food Labeling General rules [3]:

Wine and alcoholic beverages with an alcohol content of 10% vol or higher: If the production date is clearly indicated, the following prepackaged foods may be exempt from labeling the shelf life and the expiration date.
Wine and alcoholic beverages with an alcohol content of 10% or more: Provided that the batch number is indicated, the production date may be exempted from being indicated.

4.2 Languages

General Foods

According to GB 7718-2011 Food Safety National Standard - Pre-packaged Food Labeling General rules [1], the product label shall be in Chinese, and the height of the font, symbols, and numbers for mandatory content must not be less than 1.8 mm.

Foreign languages can be used at the same time, but there should be a corresponding relationship with Chinese (except for trademarks, the manufacturer and address of imported food, the name and address of foreign distributors, and the website). All foreign languages must not be larger than the corresponding Chinese characters (except trademarks).

According to the GB 7718-2025 Food Safety National Standard - Pre-packaged Food Labeling General rules [3]:

Standardized Chinese characters should be used (except for trademarks, email addresses, and website addresses), and traditional Chinese characters, pinyin, minority languages, and foreign languages can be used simultaneously.

According to the “Measures for supervision and administration of food labeling” [4]:

The text used for the mandatory labeling items on prepackaged food labels shall be standardized Chinese characters. Simplified Chinese characters shall be used, but corresponding traditional Chinese characters, pinyin, and foreign languages may also be used simultaneously. However, the height of the traditional Chinese characters, pinyin, and foreign languages used shall not exceed the height of the corresponding standardized Chinese characters. The use of minority languages shall be in accordance with relevant national regulations.
The mandatory labeling items on prepackaged food labels shall be marked with text, symbols, numbers, and patterns that are clearly contrasted with the background color. The production date and the expiration date of the shelf life shall be marked in a clearly contrasting form such as a white background with black text to ensure clear readability.
The text, symbols, and numbers used for the mandatory labeling items on prepackaged food labels shall have a height of not less than 1.8 millimeters, and the ratio of the height to the width of the font shall not exceed 3. For prepackaged food packaging with the largest surface area greater than 150 cm², the height of text, symbols, and numbers other than the nutrition facts table shall not be less than 2.0 millimeters; for those with the largest surface area greater than 400 cm², the height of text, symbols, and numbers other than the nutrition facts table shall not be less than 2.5 millimeters. The font height for the production date and the expiration date of the shelf life shall not be less than 3.0 millimeters. However, for prepackaged food packaging with the largest surface area of less than 35 cm², the font height for the production date and the expiration date of the shelf life shall not be less than 2.0 millimeters.

Category

Alcoholic drinks

Same as General Foods above.

Product

Beer

Same as General Foods above.

Ready-to-drink beverages (mainly Chuhai)

Same as General Foods above.

Whisky

Same as General Foods above.

4.3 Mandatory Information on Stickers

Stickers are permitted to be used on the label of General Foods. It is recommended that the ingredients and nutrition labels be covered by the stickers.

According to the GB 7718-2025 Food Safety National Standard - Pre-packaged Food Labeling General rules [3]:

Stickers are permitted to be used on the label General Food. The Chinese labels (stickers) of imported prepackaged foods should indicate the mandatory labeling contents required by these standards and other laws, regulations, and food safety standards. There should be a one-to-one correspondence between the Chinese and foreign languages of the mandatory labeling contents. The contents expressed in other foreign languages or traditional Chinese characters visible on the label should have a corresponding relationship with standardized Chinese characters (except for trademarks, the names and addresses of the producers and importers of imported foods, and website addresses).

General Foods

Please refer to Section 4.1 - "General Foods" - above.

Category

Alcoholic drinks

Please refer to Section 4.1 - "Category" - above.

Product

Beer

Please refer to Section 4.1 - "Beer" - above.

Ready-to-drink beverages (mainly Chuhai)

Please refer to Section 4.1 - "Ready-to-drink beverages (mainly Chuhai)" - above.

Whisky

Please refer to Section 4.1 - "Whisky" - above.

4.4 Product Legal Name

General Foods

N/A.

Product

Beer

"Beer and type"

Ready-to-drink beverages (mainly Chuhai)

"Integrated alcoholic beverage"

Whisky

"Whisky"
"Distilled liquor"

4.5 Product-specific Labeling Statements

General Foods

N/A.

Category

Alcoholic drinks

Alcohol content shall be marked in "% vol".
"Excessive alcohol consumption is harmful to health" should be marked, and other warnings may also be marked.
Drinks with an alcohol content greater than or equal to 10% vol are exempt from the shelf life.

According to the GB 7718-2025 Food Safety National Standard - Pre-packaged Food Labeling General rules [3]:

Wine and alcoholic beverages with an alcohol content of 10% vol or higher: If the production date is clearly indicated, the following prepackaged foods may be exempt from labeling the shelf life and the expiration date.
Wine and alcoholic beverages with an alcohol content of 10% or more: Provided that the batch number is indicated, the production date may be exempted from being indicated.

Product

Beer

The mandatory product label should include the product name, raw material, alcohol, original wort, net content, manufacturer's name and address, and filling (manufacturing date, shelf life, execution standard number, and quality grade).
The beer packaged in glass bottles should have printed on the label, label, or outer package a "warning" - "Do not impact to prevent bottle explosion".

According to the GB 7718-2025 Food Safety National Standard - Pre-packaged Food Labeling General rules [3]:

Wine and alcoholic beverages with an alcohol content of 10% vol or higher: If the production date is clearly indicated, the following prepackaged foods may be exempt from labeling the shelf life and the expiration date.
Wine and alcoholic beverages with an alcohol content of 10% or more: Provided that the batch number is indicated, the production date may be exempted from being indicated.

Ready-to-drink beverages (mainly Chuhai)

Same as "Category" (alcoholic drinks) above.

Whisky

According to the Quality requirements of Brewing Material— Part 2: Brewing Malt (Draft for Approval) [5] (please note that only the final officially released version shall be considered for implementation), in addition to the General Food and alcoholic drinks requirements:

Whisky should be labeled with the product type in accordance with the classification in standard 4. Product Classification (classified by raw materials and production processes as: malt whisky, grain whisky, blended whisky, and flavored whisky).
For grain whisky, if the proportion of any one grain raw material exceeds 51% (by mass fraction), it can be labeled as "grain name + grain whisky" with the proportion exceeding 51% (by mass fraction), such as rye grain whisky or sorghum grain whisky. When the proportion of each grain does not exceed 51% (by mass fraction), it should be directly labeled as "grain whisky".
Whisky is recommended to be labeled with the age of the spirit. The age indicated should be the minimum age of the spirits used in the product.
If oak chips are used in the aging process of grain whisky or blended whisky, it should be indicated on the label.
If the sweetening substances (calculated as reducing sugar) in the final product of flavored whisky exceed 5 g/L, the total sugar content (calculated as reducing sugar) or its range should also be indicated.
In addition to the product name, manufacturer's name, and address, the outer packaging carton should also indicate the net content and total quantity of each unit package.
The packaging and storage transportation pictorial marks should comply with the requirements of GB/T 191.

According to the GB 7718-2025 Food Safety National Standard - Pre-packaged Food Labeling General rules [3]:

Wine and alcoholic beverages with an alcohol content of 10% vol or higher: If the production date is clearly indicated, the following prepackaged foods may be exempt from labeling the shelf life and the expiration date.
Wine and alcoholic beverages with an alcohol content of 10% or more: Provided that the batch number is indicated, the production date may be exempted from being indicated.

4.6 Authority Approval

General Foods

General Foods label does not need to be pre-approved by the authority. It is the responsibility of the business operator to make sure the label complies with the relevant Chinese regulations and standards.

Category

Alcoholic drinks

Because alcoholic beverages are categorized as General Food, the product label does not need to be pre-approved by the authority.

Product

Beer

Same as General Foods above.

Ready-to-drink beverages (mainly Chuhai)

Same as General Foods above.

Whisky

Same as General Foods above.