China Released General Safety Requirements for Children’s Products Standard GB 46523-2025

China mandatory standard GB 46523-2025 has been released, and the effective date is Nov 1, 2026.
Announcement of this new mandatory standard has been shared in previous newsletter.
https://www.cps.bureauveritas.com/newsroom/china-recently-released-new-and-revised-standards-toy-and-children-products

Below are the highlights of GB 46523-2025.

Background

GB 46523-2025 is China's first national mandatory standard of general products for children age under 14.

Scope of the Standard

This standard applies to products designed or intended for use, play, wearing, etc. by children under 14 years old, including trial products and free gifts.
Below items are out of the scope of the standard 

• Children’s pharmaceuticals.
• Children’s cosmetic and care products regulated under the Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of Cosmetics.
• Food for children.
• Amusement facilities in public places that are regulated under the Regulations on the Supervision and Safety of Special Equipment.
• Sports facilities and education aids.
• Children’s medical devices.
• Fireworks and firecrackers.
• Hygiene and food contact safety requirements of food-contact products.
• Products that already have applicable China mandatory standards that stipulates the requirements of children products, such as:
  • Toys,
  • Child care articles,
  • Products for children riding and related activities,
  • Infant and children's furniture,
  • Student supplies (student stationery),
  • Infant and children's textile products,
  • Infant and children's paper products,
  • Children's jewelry, and children's footwear,
  • Infant and children's leather and fur products.

Besides above exceptions, children's products without applicable mandatory national standards shall meet the requirements of this standard.

General requirements

• Products intended for repeated use by children under 36 months shall provide instruction of cleaning, except for disposable items and products or internal components that could be damaged by cleaning.
• Product design shall take consideration of children protection under foreseeable use and abuse conditions.
• Products shall not have peculiar odours defined in the standard.
• Product design shall avoid children mistaking the products are consumable food. Evaluation should be conducted through various factors and different combinations, such as shape, sensory, color, appearance, packaging, labeling, volume, and size. Imitation food articles shall not pose small part hazards to children under foreseeable use and abuse.
• Products intended for children below age 96 months shall not use glass and ceramic materials with few exceptions specified in the standard, such as feeding bottles, or such material is at a level 1600 mm above the surface where a child can stand on.
• Except chemical toys or similar products, no liquid is accessible to children and shall be harmless in case of accidental ingestion or access.
• Filling shall be new materials, free of hazardous substances. Filling made of seeds shall undergo sterilization.
• Wood materials or other plant raw materials shall not show signs of decay or insect infestation.

Mechanical and physical properties

• Small parts and small balls.
• Spherical, hemisphere-shaped, egg-shaped, or oval packaging and removable parts on the packaging.
• Openings and gaps that pose entrapment, compression and scissor-like action hazards.
• Hazardous sharp points, sharp edges and corners.
• Hazardous projections.
• Cords and loops.
• Enclosures, and compartments that children can enter.
• Stability, strength and durability.
• Movable and rotatable parts.
• Folding mechanisms.
• Children products with confined activity areas.
• Restraint system.
• Drowning hazards.
• Acoustics.
• Children’s product plastic packaging and plastic films.

Thermal hazards and flammability

• Flammability.
• Burns from product with non-electrical thermal sources.
• Open flames.
• Hyperthermia and hypothermia hazards from enclosures.

Chemical requirements

• Migratable elements.
• Plasticizers (phthalates) restriction.
• Formaldehyde restriction.
• Restricted decomposable harmful aromatic amines from dyestuff (banned azo dyes).
• Migratable nitrosamines and nitrosatable substances restriction.
• Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons restriction.
• Short chain chlorinated paraffins restriction.

Electrical safety requirements
 

• Maximum operating and accessible component voltages.
• Insulation and thermal hazards.
• Safeguard from malfunctions.
• Safeguard of batteries (e.g. button cell/ lithium batteries) accessibility to young children age below 36 months.

Radiation safety requirements
 

• Hazards from ionized radiation and electromagnetic radiation. Photobiological safety of illumination sources.

Hazards from explosion

Labeling requirements

• Required labeling information, including warnings and reminders
• Label placement and durability.
• Suitable age labeling if applicable.
• Assembly instruction and supervisory guides.
• Installation, maintenance and emergency procedures for amusement products available at public areas.

Products manufactured or imported before the implementation date (November 1, 2026), they shall comply with the new requirements starting from the 13th month after the implementation date.

Manufacturers and retailers should pay attention to this new standard and ensure products that are sold in China and within the scope of this standard meet the latest requirements when they become effective.

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