Cost of Shipping a Container to China

According to the China Country Commercial Guide, the Chinese importer (agent, distributor, joint-venture partner, or FIE) will need to gather the documents necessary for importing goods and provide them to Chinese Customs agents. Necessary documents vary by product but may include standard documents. Please refer to the list below:

● A bill of lading
● Invoice
● Shipping list
● Customs declaration
● Insurance policy
● Sales contract

Furthermore, here is a list of other specialized documents necessary for shipping to China:

● Import quota certificate for general commodities (if applicable)
● Import license (if applicable)
● Inspection certificate issued by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection, and Quarantine (AQSIQ) or its local bureau (where applicable)
● Other safety or quality licenses.

The Bill of Lading is a document provided by a carrier acknowledging receipt of items which embodies an agreement to transport the goods to a stated destination.

As China is a continental economy with diverse ecosystems and a wide variety of food preferences, it is also home to eight ministries regulating food safety, quality, and trade. These agencies run the gamut of food regulation, inspection, packaging, scanning, storage, labeling, quality control, record keeping, and import requirements. Chinese regulators are engaged in releasing new rules that reflect the needs and support implementing the 2015 Food Safety Law.

According to Dezan Shira & Associates’ China Briefing, “China has promulgated a series of regulations to reduce import-export taxes and duties to promote a higher level of openness and domestic consumption. These changes could affect companies that import and export taxable goods and services with China.

Value-Added Tax for imported goods. The 9 percent tax is available for certain goods that fall mainly within agricultural and utility items. In comparison, the 13 percent tax applies to other goods subject to the VAT, like manufactured goods.

Consumption Tax for imported goods. China’s consumption tax (CT) is imposed on companies and organizations that manufacture and import taxable products, taxable process products under consignment, or sell taxable products. Imported products taxable under China’s consumption tax include those harmful to one’s health like tobacco or alcohol, luxury goods like jewelry and cosmetics, and high-end products, such as passenger cars and motorcycles.
For imported goods, the consumption tax rate varies depending on the type of product being brought into the country.

Customs Energy. Customs duties include import and export duties. Customs duty rates on imports have most-favored-nation (MFN) duty rates, conventional duty rates, special preferential duty rates, tariff-rate quota (TRQ) duty rates, general duty rates, and provisional duty rates for imports that may be implemented for a specified period.
For more information, visit China Briefing’s Website

It usually just takes a few minutes or hours for a package to clear customs. However, it can take days or sometimes weeks if there are problems.

Before deciding to schedule container delivery to your site, you must consider a few factors. You must know in advance the details about delivery fees, permitting requirements, ground conditions, and clearance space. The worst thing you can experience right before you ship your container is removing it because you didn’t do your homework on specific site requirements!

A 20-foot storage container usually requires about 75 feet of straight clearance. A 40-foot storage container will need about 100 feet of straightforward clearance. For most containers, you need a minimum of 12 feet of width clearance and 20 feet of overhead clearance.

In some cases, containers either get lost, destroyed, or even stolen. To make the company pay for such commotion, purchase insurance beforehand. To prevent paying for additional costs, ensure that you have your Bill of Lading with you to protect the cargo against inevitable losses. In the event of failure, a cargo insurance policy indemnifies the cargo interest. Most cargo insurance policies are underwritten on an “all-risk basis.” This means that the insured is covered for risk of loss or damage except for those risks that are expressly excluded in the policy, such as loss or damage due to willful destruction of the goods by the insured or the inherent vice of the goods.

Because your signature will be required to sign specific documents, you must be physically present when the container is delivered. You must also supervise the moving crew when the container arrives so that you can ensure that the goods are still intact.