since the new import bs the chinese govt is imposing, what have y'all seen? Is it really that bad? I might go to China next year and will probably have to bring my MacBook and iPhone with me. Are they really enforcing the taxes or is it more scare tactics the govt is using to deter smugglers?

I have a feeling the new regulations won't last very long, and in short time, the customs officers likely won't give a rat's tail about enforcing it.
In addition, what's it like at PEK & PVG? I hear a rumor that the PVG officials don't really care to enforce it.

OK, I'm not sure what the regs are..but I just went to PEK with my stuff, and didn't even get asked about it. They are more likely to target returning travellers, but then again, I'm not Chinese so they probably assumed (correctly) I wouldn't have a clue how to offload a load of tech stuff on the streets.

tb

My last visit was 04/10. In well over a dozen visits I've never had anyone ask about electronics--and these days I'm carrying about $5k worth (laptop + camera.)

The only time customs has looked at us at all was when I was wheeling a cart with 4 big bags out of the customs hall apparently alone. (She was actually just lagging behind--I had gone ahead to get her to end her unending conversation with the people in the lost baggage office.) I also had an entry stamp 2 days earlier. The large amount of baggage for one person drew his interest, the old stamp drew it more.

He ran the bags through an x-ray and at that point my wife came running up and explained--our bags hadn't made the connection and had just now caught up to us. That was the end of the search.

The day she tripped the radiation detectors didn't even cause anything more than questions as to what would cause a false alarm--very quickly resolved as we knew she was hot from a cardiac stress test. They never tried to isolate that it was her and she didn't even have her card from the lab with her. (It sat at home in the pocket of the wrong jacket.) She tripped them again at customs and nobody even responded.

I don't really know what restrictions you are talking about. Bringing your own "Mac" and "IPhone" will not be a problem; they've even done away with custom declaration forms.

If you intend to bring numerous of them or sell your personal "Mac" in China without paying duty, you're smuggling - but that would be the same in just about any country in the world. I would not recommend doing this anywhere in the world, including China. Getting caught will mean trouble, heavy fines, and probably imprisonment at some point - anywhere in the world.

Edit: Just to clarify: To import means bringing merchandise from one country into another and leaving it there. When you bring your "Mac" to China to use it and take it back out of the country with you, you are not importing it and do not need to pay duty. After reading your post several times, I take it you just want to do this, right?

So far, I have not heard of the new import regulations affecting foreign visitors coming into China through airports at all, pretty much same old, same old. Unless you are really heavily burdened with an unusual amount of luggage, or appear to be African, usually you just walk by Customs without them asking you to put your luggage through xray. Returning Chinese travelling ultra heavy, or with boxes, are often told to put their stuff through.

Mostly, the new import regulations--mainly an increase on duties--are geared to goods entering the country as package delivery shipments through the mail or courier service. Many urban Chinese, fed up with ridiculous local prices on foreign products, have been buying online and having stuff shipped in. The government, and local merchants and their cronies, have not been happy about this fast-growing trend, and are aiming to put a stop to it.

For the average visitor, plausible quantities of electronic goodies probably will have no issue, though a suitcase full might (in the unlikely event you get pulled for a Customs inspection). If anybody does have an incident to report though, particularly when entering China at one of the airports, please do post the details.

I believe the OP is talking specifically about Apple products. Because of their popularity and scarcity of official "imports", there are reports in recent weeks that Chinese officials have been imposing duties on the many iPads and iPhone4s that people take from Hong Kong into China in mass quantities for reselling.

I doubt it should be an issue if you're bringing no more than one iPad and no more than one iPhone4 for personal use. And no reports of issues with MacBooks.

When I entered through PEK earlier this month pretty much everyone walked right through customs without being stopped. There was one guy whose bag got xrayed/scanned, but there's more effort at the US border.

When one goes by land from Hong Kong to China - say the Lowu train crossing or the Shenzhen Bay bus crossing - after you go through the Chinese immigration, there's a X-ray machine that one needs to put their suitcases on. You never know if the machine is actually on or not, and there's no formal rule how large a bag needs to go in, and which smaller ones don't.

But if you have a suitcase full of iPads or iPhones, there's a decent chance you may be stopped.

There are news report of PRC Custom imposing a 20% tax/duty on each iphone & iPad coming into the country (or about $1,000 RMB - based on the fair market value of these unlocked wifi-enabled devices)

One supposingly has the option of not paying the duty & request that it be checked at the border entry point, and reclaim upon departure - not an option if one is coming in from point A and leaving via point B.

One ought to mention that we are talking about new, boxed Apple devices. Not the ones for personal usage. As reported by SCMP and others.