User blog comment:Aleksandr the Great/Bioware is really starting to pi$$ me off.../@comment-2250460-20120310035723/@comment-5503561-20120310183937

You finish ME3 once, doesn't matter if your character is fresh or an imported one, you can start a new game with this character, using Import ME3 character option in the menu, and keep all stuff acquired in previous run.

Same deal existed in ME2, they tell you that after the Credits.