Tips to Consider When Shipping to China from the UK

China is not only one of the world’s leading exporters but also an importer, making shipping there both attractive and challenging. Proper labeling and packaging requirements must be followed when shipping to China; customs taxes and duties may apply as well.

Make sure that all documentation is accurate and comprehensive, becoming familiar with prohibited or restricted items and declaring them accurately and fully.

1. Shipping Costs

Shipping costs between China and the UK depend heavily upon both shipment size and mode. Air freight is often considered the fastest but also most costly solution, while rail freight offers sustainable and cost-effective shipping services that may take longer than sea or air freight options (though this option should not be chosen when shipping fragile or flammable goods such as perfume).

Selecting the ideal courier is essential to keeping shipping costs under control. Look for services with fast delivery times and durable packaging; UDS shipping guidelines provide further insight. To obtain a quote for your shipment fill in both collection and destination addresses.

2. Transit Time

Transit times depend heavily on your choice of shipping mode and speed. Air shipping may be the least costly method available, yet takes the longest due to distance, customs clearance requirements and the carrier’s route schedules. Furthermore, custom duties and taxes levied against products originating in China could add an extra 5%-20% cost that must be considered when planning delivery dates.

If you want to send a parcel to China from the UK quickly, consider using an express service. This option is suitable for small and medium shipments, and ensures your package reaches its destination within 24 days. Furthermore, using this method saves money on handling and storage fees.

If you opt to ship by sea freight, be prepared for an extended process. Due to China’s stringent export regulations.

3. Insurance

No matter where your parcel needs to go in China, taking steps to ensure it arrives undamaged is key. At UDS, we provide affordable yet dependable international shipping services that can help ensure its safe arrival on schedule.

We offer extra services to make shipping easy and convenient for our customers, such as online tracking and tracing and free contents insurance of up to PS50 on UK deliveries. Simply book online and our team will do the rest.

China is an expansive country, so your parcel may travel long distances from the UK to its final destination. Therefore, it’s crucial that a sturdy box be used and internal packaging be purchased; you can find more helpful advice on our Packaging Guidelines page.

 

All shipments to China must go through customs clearance, which requires your recipient to provide their contact details and complete a customs declaration form. During our booking process we gather this data and will print customs documents that can be attached directly to your parcel.

4. Customs Clearance

When shipping UK to China Parcel, it’s essential that no items fall onto any prohibited or restricted lists. Sending such items can result in delays, additional charges and may even result in them being destroyed by customs officials. As this department reviews all documents and goods before releasing them for importation into their system, only ship things which are legal to import into their system.

Your product’s commodity code may require additional documentation to clear customs, such as health certificates, licenses or permits. If you don’t know these rules well enough yourself, freight forwarding services offer invaluable help as a mediator between yourself and the Chinese government.

Air freight is the quickest and least-expensive method of shipping parcels to China, suitable for most types of goods and can take as little as one or two days for delivery; to avoid delays around Chinese New Year, book well in advance!

If you want to save both time and money when shipping to China, our value economy shipment service offers the ideal way to do it. Not only will you reduce delivery costs substantially but it provides reliable quality delivery that takes approximately 8-11 working days before reaching its destination.

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