China safety data sheets: finding the applicable official standards

Start with the law. The Hazardous Chemicals Safety Law was adopted on 27 December 2025 and has applied since 1 May 2026. Article 31 requires producers and importers of hazardous chemicals to provide a Chinese-language SDS that matches the chemical, and a Chinese-language label on its packaging, including outer packaging. Both must meet national standards. Article 57 bars selling hazardous chemicals without an SDS or label. The older Regulations on the Safe Management of Hazardous Chemicals (State Council Decree 591, as amended in 2013) are still listed as in force in the national laws database, and the new Law doesn't mention them.

Then check whether the product is a hazardous chemical. The Ministry of Emergency Management publishes the Catalogue of Hazardous Chemicals, first issued in 2015 and adjusted in 2022 and 2026. The 2026 adjustment added five chemicals from 16 April 2026. The mandatory standard GB 30000.1-2024 also sets when an SDS is required. That covers any substance or mixture that meets the classification criteria, and mixtures containing carcinogens, reproductive toxicants or target organ toxicants above set limits (clause 6.1.1).

Take a fictional exporter, Tarnwick, selling an alkaline degreaser to a distributor in China that imports it. Under Article 31, the importer must provide the Chinese SDS and label, so Tarnwick supplies the data and the distributor's SDS must meet the Chinese standards.

Six standards matter, and each one's status can be checked on the national standards system run by the State Administration for Market Regulation (openstd.samr.gov.cn and std.samr.gov.cn).

GB/T 16483-2008, Safety data sheet for chemical products: Content and order of sections, is a recommended standard in force since 1 February 2009. It was last reviewed in November 2021 and confirmed as valid. GB/T 17519-2013, Guidance on the compilation of safety data sheet for chemical products, is a recommended standard in force since 31 January 2014. Neither has a newer edition or a revision plan.

GB 30000.1-2024, Specification for classification and labelling of chemicals, Part 1: General rules, is mandatory and has applied since 1 August 2025. It replaced GB 13690-2009, which was withdrawn on the same day. Its chapter 6 covers SDSs, and it lists GB/T 16483 as a normative reference, which makes the minimum content of GB/T 16483 binding in practice.

GB 30000.2-2013 to GB 30000.29-2013 are the mandatory standards for each hazard class, in force since 1 November 2014. In Part 2, only chapters 4 and 6 are mandatory. GB 30000.30-2025, for desensitised explosives, has applied since 1 July 2026. GB 15258-2009, the mandatory standard for labels, has applied since 1 May 2010, and a revision is under review.

The format is fixed. An SDS has 16 sections, whose titles, numbers and order shouldn't change (GB/T 16483, clause 4.1; GB 30000.1, clause 6.2). No section except section 16 may be left blank. Where data are missing, the SDS gives the reason (GB/T 16483, clause 4.2; GB 30000.1, clause 6.3.1). Every page carries the chemical's name, the date and the SDS number (GB/T 16483, clause 4.7). Section 1 gives the supplier's details and an emergency telephone number (GB/T 16483, Annex A). The SDS also gives national information for the country of supply, such as occupational exposure limits (GB 30000.1, clause 6.3.2).

The language is Chinese for hazardous chemicals, under Article 31 of the Law. The emergency telephone comes from the Hazardous Chemicals Registration Measures (Order No. 53, 2012). Article 22 requires producers to run a fixed-line number in China, staffed 24 hours a day by dedicated staff, or to delegate the service to a registration body. Importers provide the service themselves or through an import agent or registration body, and print the number on their labels.

Classification references are mixed. GB 30000.1-2024 is consistent with revision 8 of the UN Globally Harmonized System (GHS). The hazard class standards from 2013 follow revision 4, and GB 15258-2009 adopted revision 2. Classify under the Chinese standards, rather than copying an EU or US classification.

Revision dates matter in two ways. GB 30000.1-2024 requires the SDS to show the date it was first compiled and, once revised, its version and revision date (clause 6.1.6). Article 31 of the Law requires producers and importers that find a new hazard to announce it at once and promptly revise the SDS and label.

GB 30000.1-2024 was published on 24 July 2024 and applied from 1 August 2025, about 12 months later. Its text has no transitional clause for SDSs written under GB 13690-2009, and the Law has no transition article on SDSs. So check SDSs written before 1 August 2025 against GB 30000.1-2024.

Record the changes still in progress, with their dates and status. Draft revisions of Part 7 (flammable liquids) and Part 15 (oxidising solids) of GB 30000 were published for comment until 20 October 2026. Their explanatory note says they follow revision 11 of the GHS, and they are proposed to apply 12 months after publication. The revision of GB 15258 under review would add a hazardous chemical safety information code to labels. A recommended standard for SDS data in XML format is in the approval stage.

A Chinese SDS checklist, with the source for each item:

Confirm the chemical's status against the Catalogue of Hazardous Chemicals and the classification criteria in GB 30000.1-2024. Classify it under GB 30000.1-2024 and the relevant GB 30000 hazard class parts. Use the 16 sections in the order set by GB/T 16483-2008, with no blank sections except section 16 and a reason wherever data are missing. Put the chemical name, date and SDS number on every page. Write the SDS in Chinese, and make sure the label matches it and meets GB 15258-2009. Give a 24-hour fixed-line emergency number in China, or the number of the registration body or agent providing the service. Add Chinese occupational exposure limits and other national information. Show the first compilation date, version and revision date.

Record the standard edition and its status on the date of authoring, with a link to its record. Check the open drafts on std.samr.gov.cn before each revision cycle.