Chinese Pokémon cards: a wholesale buyer’s guide for US and UK shops
Simplified Chinese Pokémon TCG is the official Pokémon Trading Card Game produced for mainland China. It is a separate product line from English and Japanese Pokémon: its own set codes, its own release schedule, and several formats that never get an English print run. For a US or UK card shop, that makes it one of the few ways to stock sealed Pokémon your competitors don’t have.
Simplified Chinese vs Traditional Chinese
There are two Chinese-language Pokémon lines. Traditional Chinese product is printed for Taiwan and Hong Kong and largely follows the Japanese set list. Simplified Chinese product is printed for mainland China and has its own sets, such as the Gem Pack series and the Chinese 151 volumes. Everything Cardroad supplies is Simplified Chinese unless the listing says otherwise.
How to read Chinese set codes
Simplified Chinese sets carry codes ending in “C”. CSV codes (CSV4C to CSV10C) are the main Scarlet & Violet-era expansions, for example CSV10C Glory of Team Rocket and CSV9C Stellar Crystal. CBB codes are the Gem Pack booster boxes (Gem Pack Vol.2 to Vol.6). Older paired releases use CS codes with an a/b suffix, such as CS3aC/CS3bC. On our list you can sort by set code to see each series together.
The formats that sell
- Jumbo booster boxes: 6 packs of 20 cards. Big packs that open well on camera.
- Slim booster boxes: 15 packs of 5 cards. A lower price per pack, good for pack-by-pack sales.
- Gem Pack boxes: 18 packs of 4 cards (15 packs on Vol.2), with no English equivalent.
- Gift boxes, coin sets and figure sets: seasonal and collector products that suit the shelf and gift buyers.
We explain the differences in detail in Jumbo vs slim booster boxes.
Who buys it
Demand comes from three groups: collectors who want Chinese-exclusive sets and art, live sellers who need packs that make a good break on Whatnot, TikTok Shop and eBay Live, and players and shops looking for sealed product with a lower price per pack than English. Chinese cards are not tournament-legal in English-language play, so this is a collector and opening product, not a competitive one.
See the cards collectors chase in Chinese-exclusive Pokémon cards.
How wholesale buying works
Chinese sealed is not carried by US or UK distributors, so shops usually buy through an importer. With Cardroad you order whole sealed cases from a daily supplier list, with a £2,000 minimum that can mix any lines. We confirm availability and your total with the supplier before you pay, and cases ship from China by DHL, typically arriving in 3–5 days. US buyers can read how ordering works from the US. If you have any questions about getting stock into your country, email us.
Checking it’s genuine
Buy sealed cases rather than loose boxes where you can, check that the case tape and labels are intact, and film the case opening. Every line we sell is official Simplified Chinese product, factory sealed, and we only sell sealed cases and master cases unless a listing says otherwise.