How Long When Shipping from China to UK
Port of Loading | Port of Arrive | Transmit Time |
Shanghai | Felixstowe | 30 |
| Shenzhen | Felixstowe | 24 |
Ningbo | Felixstowe | 29 |
| Qingdao | Felixstowe | 33 |
Tianjin | Felixstowe | 35 |
| Xiamen | Felixstowe | 26 |
Tj China Freight has stable quantity of shipping goods from China to Felixstowe, Southampton, etc. So that we can always get the good ocean freight to UK port from many carriers，and we can ensure the container space even in peak season.
There are many basic international airports in UK and there are also many shipments goods from China to UK by air, Tj China Freight can provide very competitive air freight which is lower than the market to our customer based on your demand schedule.
The railway freight is between ocean freight and air freight, the transmit time also between ocean and air. Tj China Freight provides professional railway service to your country from any cities in China, so it is very convenient and efficient to ship your goods from China by railway.
Tj China Freight have good cooperation with many carriers from China to UK by FCL, such as EMC, COSCO, OOCL, HMM, ONE, MSK, APL. We can provide the good ocean freight and stable space from any port in China to any port in UK.
As we all know that the destination charge is very high for LCL, so the importers always complain this problem, Tj China Freight set up the charge standard reasonably for LCL destination charge which is much lower than market standard.
Tj China Freight will provide most fuel efficient pickup service China
We provide free warehousing services for any of your goods.
The cargo insurance protects your goods all the way to any Any FBA Warehouse
We handle all paperwork and other details for you.
Ensure safe packaging and loading of goods in your suppliers' factory.
Port of Loading | Port of Arrive | Transmit Time |
Shanghai | Felixstowe | 30 |
| Shenzhen | Felixstowe | 24 |
Ningbo | Felixstowe | 29 |
| Qingdao | Felixstowe | 33 |
Tianjin | Felixstowe | 35 |
| Xiamen | Felixstowe | 26 |
If you’re importing from China, and need to ship your goods to UK, the this is the right guide for you!
You don’t need years of experience to ship goods from China to the U.K.
Why?
Because today I am going to breakdown this process into easy and simple steps.
I will take you through the cost of shipping containers, U.K. customs regulations, importation documents, shipping routes, modes or transports, etc.
By the end of this guide, you will easily pack and ship cargo from China to U.K.
So, if you want to save both time and money when importing from China to U.K., then this is a must-read guide.
When it comes to the shipping from China to the U.K., you can count on Tj China Freight freight forwarder.
With years of experience in the freight forwarding industry, Tj China Freight offers an all-in-one shipping package.
Tj China Freight has over ten offices in different cities in China, making it easy to coordinate well with the suppliers.
It has been in the freight forwarding industry for more than ten years, besides being awarded NVOCC 7.
Furthermore, Tj China Freight works closely with various airlines and top cargo ships, making it easier to negotiate for the best deals when shipping from China to the U.K.
Can you imagine using Tj China Freight’s warehouse for 20 to 30 days for FREE?
Or, using the Tj China Freight’s shipping containers for free for up to 28 days!
Well, you’ll save a lot.
And, this will give you peace of mind.
You know, what?
Whether you want the door to door shipping from China to the U.K., customs clearance or insurance – Tj China Freight handles everything for you.
Also, Tj China Freight will evaluate your shipping needs to recommend the best mode of transport.
Tj China Freight will help you to choose from rail freight, ocean freight or sea freight.
But, there something even more important you need to know when shipping from China to U.K.
That is the.
Before thinking about how to import from China to UK, one has to wonder how much will it cost for such a shipment.
Several factors will always determine the cost of shipping from China to U.K.
And, some of the factors may include:-
When one uses a port with high handling capacity, the shipping cost will be lower than a port with low handling capacity.
This difference comes as a result of economies of scale.
World’s busiest port, such as Shanghai will be cheaper owing to the large capacity of around 32 million containers a year it handles.
Port of Shanghai
You should know the exact port where your freight forwarder will load the cargo.
As a rule of thumb, go for a port that will cost less.
That is, check whether they will use feeder vessels or not.
Remember, some ports do not have a direct link to United Kingdom i.e. Zhongshan.
When you use such ports, you will incur additional shipping costs from China to the U.K.
Also the distance between the departure and the destination port is a factor determining the cost.
Sea route from Shanghai, China to London Thamesport U.K. – Source: Ports.com
The distance between the two ports is directly proportional to the shipping charges.
Obviously, longer sea routes will cost more.
The difference simply comes as a result of the logistics incurred like the fuel etc.
The cost will also depend on the weight / measure of the good you’re shipping.
This means that 1 cubic meter is equivalent to 1000 kg.
If anything varies from the standard measure, you’ll incur additional costs.
An example is where the shipment is 3 cubic meters and 3500 kg.
In such a case, the weight is considered bigger and hence the shipping rate for the sea depends on that.
When importing from a supplier far from any port, one has to incur the road transport charges to the departure port.
This factor has to be considered when sourcing for a commodity to be imported.
It is important to have the supplier located near the main port to avoid such extra costs.
From time to time, the container shipping changes fluctuates.
So, it is important to factor in the fluctuations when budgeting.
A freight forwarding company such as Tj China Freight can give the probable estimation of the fluctuation to avoid underestimation which may end up in delays.
These fluctuating rates are simply fixed by all the shipping lines so that they can stop the falling sea freight rates.
These rates are normally artificially increased using the large general rate increases (GRIs).
Before deciding on the method of shipment to the UK, the weight is an important parameter to consider.
Normally, the sea freight is 4 to 6 times cheaper than the air freight though very slow as it takes long.
Evergreen cargo ship
It is cost effective to use courier to ship weights less than 100kg than other modes.
When loads more than 100kg are to be shipped, sea or air flight will be cost effective.
In the sea freight, more weight translates to high shipping cost.
Big cargo via air freight will attract high charges to a tune of 4 to 6 times.
This is a cost that is normally charged when the shipping company pays VAT and UK duty on behalf of the importer before billing it.
In some cases, deferment may be charged as a percentage, which may be high and add to the final importation cost.
These are costs which the importer can easily avoid.
To protect your goods in transit, it can be important to get an insurance cover.
This cover takes care of the damages or losses during the transit period.
The insurance cost will cover the value of the goods, but not the weight or volume.
The cost increases with the value of the commodities.
Hence, more valuable goods will attract high insurance charges.
The U.K. import duties and taxes will obviously affect the cost of your imports.
As a matter of fact:
Every importer has to pay all the UK Duty + VAT unless his/her goods are eligible for duty relief scheme.
Once your goods reach the UK, they will be cleared via the customs.
Charges of the invoice together with UK Duty + VAT will be paid at the port of destination.
Obviously, this is before the goods are finally released.
The shipping costs keep varying depending on the seasons.
Below is an example of the recent shipping costs from different ports in China to UK ports include;-
For Full Container Loads (FCL) rates
| China Port of Departure | UK Port of Destination | Carrier | Currency | CONTAINER TYPE | ||
| 20′ GP | 40′ GP | 40′ HC | ||||
| Hongkong | Southampton | ONE | USD | 750 | 1250 | 1300 |
| HongKong | Southampton | YML | USD | 675 | 1200 | 1200 |
| Hongkong | Felixstowe | EMC | USD | 750 | 1400 | 1450 |
| Yantian(Shenzhen) | Southampton | ONE | USD | 750 | 1250 | 1300 |
| Yantian(Shenzhen) | Felixstowe | EMC | USD | 750 | 1400 | 1450 |
| Qingdao | Southampton | YML | USD | 675 | 1200 | 1200 |
| Xingang | Felixstowe | EMC | USD | 750 | 1400 | 1450 |
| Yantian(Shenzhen) | Southampton | YML | USD | 675 | 1200 | 1200 |
For Less Container Load (LCL) Rates
| China Departure Port | UK Destination port | Sea freight rate | Ratio |
| Hong Kong | Southampton | $50.00 | P/Cube |
| Hong Kong | Felixstowe | $50.00 | P/Cube |
| Hong Kong | Manchester | $80.00 | P/Cube |
| Ningbo | Felixstowe | $50.00 | P/Cube |
| Ningbo | Southampton | $50.00 | P/Cube |
| Ningbo | Manchester | $80.00 | P/Cube |
Note: For LCL; P/Cube =100cm x100cm x 100cm.
Now, here are some resources for you:
It takes good time to ship from China to United Kingdom owing to some logistics which have to take place.
Be it a huge cargo, or a small parcel – it has to undergo some processes or procedures.
And, therefore, so many factors come into play when shipping from China to the U.K.
Apart from the shipping time, you need to factor in customs clearance, delivery, loading and offloading the cargo.
So, in this section, I will give you a rough idea on how long it takes to ship from China to the U.K.
Let’s look at three different scenarios:
When goods are sourced from Southern China (Guangzhou/Shenzhen) for example, it takes around 23-25 days on the water.
However, we can give allowance of about 6 weeks to cater for the time it takes from the supplier’s factory to your delivery address (door to door).
For Central China (Shanghai/Ningbo) it takes around 28-30 days on the water, but due to door to door processes, it will take a maximum of around 7 weeks.
Northern China (Qingdao/Tianjin/Xingang) -This is one of the furthest areas in relation to the United Kingdom location.
The shipping takes around 32-35 days on the water, although the other door to door processes will make it take around 8 weeks to reach to the final.
Of course, the shipping time will vary depending on the means of transport.
Having said that, let me take you a step further to discuss ways of shipping from China to United Kingdom.
Several factors come into play before one decides on which mode to use when shipping from China to UK.
The goods can either be shipped via air or the sea.
It will all depend on the nature of goods.
Of course, the urgency of the commodity will determine the mode of shipping.
The perishable goods requiring very short duration can use air transportation while those that require long duration can use sea transportation.
Tj China Freight prides herself with on time delivery of the goods both at the port and at the inland destination.
This means that Tj China Freight will ensure that the customer receives the goods at the convenient place.
The courier services are known to give bulk service on every process involved in the importation. They will provide door to door services.
The importer will only enter into an agreement with Courier Company and they shall ensure that the good is delivered to the importer’s door step.
Most trusted courier companies for UK to China shipment may include: DHL, FedEx, UPS and TNT.
Courier shipping from China to UK
China is about 7,775 km away from the United Kingdom but traversing this distance may take longer owing to the sea routes defined by water bodies.
Sea freight is determined by the location of ports to be used and the nature of consignment to be transported.
Very bulky consignment is normally shipped via sea.
Although it takes time to reach the final destination, it has proven to be the cheapest ever.
Before choosing this shipment method, he/she must be well acquainted with different ports both in China and United Kingdom.
Sea freight to U.K.
China has so many sea ports.
The busiest sea ports include:
Note: You should ship your goods to a convenient sea port that allows you to easily ship from China to U.K.
The majority of the UK ports are owned by five companies namely:
i. Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH)
ii. Forth Ports
iii. Associated British Ports (ABP)
iv. Peel Group
v. PD Port
Some of the major ports include;
Main container sea ports – Photo courtesy: Shippo
It is located in Suffolk and is the Britain’s largest container ports.
It is rated as the largest in Europe.
When importing from China to UK, this port is centrally positioned for quick distribution within the land of the United Kingdom.
Its capacity is equivalent to 3.5 million twenty foot containers every year.
It runs services with 365 other ports in the world.
This is located in the South of England and handle mostly full container loads.
In case there is a haulage cost to be incurred due to re-routing the container to Hampire based ports, Port of Southampton stands to be the best in saving such costs.
Occasionally, it can also handle the less than container loads from suppliers in Asia.
This port is rated as the UK’s second largest container terminal which can handle over 1.5 million containers in a year.
Situated on the banks of the River Thames in Essex.
The Port of Tilbury operates the London Container Terminal and is known as the biggest terminal for the refrigerated containers in Europe.
It has an installation of 1,400 reefer plugs on terminal with a 25,000 pallet space cold storage facility.
It is located midway between Edinburgh and Glasgow and is the Scotland’s largest container port in the middle of Scotland’s industrial sector.
This is the main container terminal in Scotland and handles averagely 150,000 containers every year.
The beauty of this port is that it links the national motorway network and the railway.
This is the only Port in UK that does more exportation that importation.
This is one of the newest ports in the United Kingdom.
It is situated in London on the River Thames.
It enjoys a lot of advantages due to the fact that it is located in the major city with high business exercises.
It is known to have the largest logistics park in Europe.
Its location helps in saving on the haulage cost for those who live within the city since you can easily walk into the port and collect the consignment.
Other ports in the United Kingdom may also include port of ; Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Bristol, Thame sport, Aberdeen, Bradford, Cardiff, Coventry, Dundee, Derby, Durham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Gloucester, Hull, Ipswich, Leicester, New castle Upon Yyne, Nottingham, Northampton, Newport, Norwich, Oxford, Preston, Plymouth, Swindon, Sunderland, Stoke on trent, Sheffield, Swansea, Stockport, Telford, Watford, Worcester
Ships leaving China to other parts of the world can only traverse three routes.
The routes include;
Different sea routes
Let’s look at these three routes:
When a vessel takes the Atlantic route, the ships transverse the southern direction from China, and then sail through the Indian Ocean to the Cape of Good Hope.
From here, the vessel can go United Kingdom, Western Europe, and the East Coast of the U.S., the Suez Canal, the Gulf and the Mediterranean area.
When the Pacific route is used, the ship will follow the southern direction of the East China Sea.
Then, it goes northward via the Sea of Japan passing through Okhotsk to enter North Pacific Ocean.
Through this route, the ship reaches the following destination; the west of the U.S., west of Latin America, New Zealand, western Canada and Australia.
The last route is the Indian Ocean, which is mostly used to ship oil.
This route enables goods from China to reach East Africa, Persian Gulf, Western Europe, United Kingdom and North America by setting sail in the direction of the Cape of Good Hope.
United Kingdom shares most shipping companies with those taking consignments to the neighboring European countries.
MSC Shipping company
Depending on the shipping rate and the shipping time, the shipping company is chosen appropriately.
When one requires medium shipping rates and medium transit time, the following companies will be recommended; COSCO and KLINE.
For low shipping rates and long transit time; MSC, CSCL, PIL, ZIM, WANHAI, MISC will do.
While for high shipping rates and less transit time, you can consider APL, CMA, HMM or MSK.
The time taken for the consignment to reach its final destination is greatly determined by the availability of the documents for importation.
Different authorities will require different types of documents.
Once the authenticity of all the import documents is conformed, the importer gets the consignment on time without any delays.
Basically, two sets of documents are important during shipment; one set is verified at the departure port and the other set at the destination port.
In an event that the importer chooses to use an agent, the FOB will have to be bought by him to authorize the supplier to process all the necessary documentation.
Customs clearance
In this case, the importer will have the obligation to handle clearance of the commodity at the destination port.
In any international importation, the key documents needed when doing shipment will include:
And, any other required documents from the authority depending on the good imported.
At times, the agents may not inform the importer when the goods arrive at the destination port.
Hence, it is important that the importer be well equipped with all the necessary documents.
Besides, the importer should have a good track of the ship movement to estimate the exact arrival date.
For any international shipping, packing list and commercial invoice are mandatory.
Let’s have a quick overview of these documents:
This indicates all the contents in the container.
Descriptions such as:
This will also be helpful at the destination port.
You will use it to verify the goods you’ll receive.
It indicates the actual types of the products, their order values and the consignee and is used by the customs to calculate the custom duties.
In other words, commercial invoice is a custom declaration document.
Since it is a declaration document, the following must be contained inside it;
This is part of a clearance document to be presented at the port of entry.
The importer will authenticate this document by filing and appending signature on it.
It is usually filled and signed within the first thirty days when the goods arrive at the customs location.
A custom official can only give a ‘pass out order’ document after doing an assessment and ensuring the bill of entry is fully filled and signed.
Upon receipt of the ‘pass out order’ from the customs official, the consignment is free to be taken to the final destination.
When the goods arrive at the destination port insurance certificate will be required as part clearance procedure.
It assists the customs official in differentiating whether the imported good selling price is part of the insurance or not.
This is vital in coming up with the import duty – you’ll use it to assess value of goods.
This is used mostly in machine importation.
During value assessment, the customs official uses this document to come up with the recent market value of the machinery.
This document will explain in literature form the use of such equipment and the literature must be attached alongside other clearance documents.
It implies that, this document type is only needed for specific goods.
Due to standards of different countries, some goods will require the test results showing the conformity of the imported product to the country’s standard.
At the port of entry, customs official usually takes a specific commodity and gives to an authorized government laboratory to test if its quality conforms to the set standards.
If the test results indicate that the quality is acceptable, the goods can be cleared otherwise it will be rejected.
This is critically important right from the port of departure.
It shows the services being offered by the freight forwarder to the shipper.
With this document, the carrier and the driver can get accurate information to be used to process the invoice and the freight shipment.
Normally, bill of lading is given at the point of the collection to the carrier and its copy attached to the package.
In case of any damage or loss, bill of lading will be very helpful as it will act as a proof of ownership anytime claims of compensation are made.
It contains:
The fastest way to ensure the cargo reaches the United Kingdom from China is via air freight.
Although it is the fastest, it is also restricted by a number of factors.
Some huge consignments cannot be carried via air and hence has to undergo sea transportation.
One may wonder why many prefer air freight to sea freight.
The reasons are so many, but the most common one is the shortest delivery time.
Also, the air freight agencies use shortest routes to the destination airport.
It depends on the urgency of the cargo.
A factor of cost effectiveness also comes into play due to the minimal point of contact.
That is, one freight broker easily handles all the logistics which saves time and money.
Also, the consignment is insured for risk reduction and tracking and hence its safety is highly guaranteed.
To use air freight from China to UK, you need to know the location of various airports.
And, that’s what you’re going to learn next.
China being an industrialized country has several airports situated in different towns to ensure easy movement of goods to the nearest airport.
Air China Cargo
The busiest main airports in China include:
Apart from this, you should know the main airport where you’ll deliver the cargo.
Now, let’s shift to the United Kingdom.
United Kingdom has the greatest connection to the whole world.
Lots of business activities take place via her airports.
Here, the United Kingdom encompasses Scotland, England, Wales or Northern Ireland.
Main airports in UK
On reaching the United Kingdom, the cargo plane can use any of the following airports depending on where the consignment on board is to be delivered.
UK therefore have got high standard airport for effective operations which may include;-
But, how will your cargo move from an airport in China to the United Kingdom?
Since there is a business relationship between China and UK, there are several cargo planes making this possible.
Some of the cargo planes using this network include; China Southern, Air China, DHL.
Door to door transit may take a junk of time, but it is important to know what it is.
It is also an effective way of importing from China to U.K.
In fact, in door to door shipping from China to U.K., the freight forwarder will handle everything for you.
The process involves the following main stages:
Once the supplier has finished production of the goods, they will be in the warehouse waiting to be collected depending on the agreement.
The supplier may transport the good to the port.
Or, if one operates on the EXW shipping terms, then he/she will take the full responsibility of organizing the transportation to the port.
Packing Shihang copper nickel pipes
In such cases, the supplier will always leave the finished commodity in the factory for collection.
All these transit times between the suppliers to the departure port takes time.
A lot is involved, especially where the road transport is involved before the port.
From the factory, the cargo/goods go to the port of origin in China/
They then undergo different processes before loading ready for shipping
The processes within 7 days may include; custom clearance, loading into the container, moving the container to the quay and finally loading onto the ship.
Depending on the nature of goods, you can use air freight or sea freight.
For air freight, the cargo will only take a few days.
However, for ocean freight, it will take a number of days.
I hope you remember what I had indicated earlier.
Once the cargo/goods arrive in the U.K., it will undergo through various procedures.
It will include custom clearance, inspection, offloading and a bit of paperwork.
After this, the cargo/goods will be ready for the next procedures.
That is, the freight forwarder will arrange for transportation of the goods/cargo to your door step.
Door to door shipping
But, I know you could be asking yourself this question:
How long does door to door shipping from China to UK take?
From all the processes, important to note that the total time to ship a commodity from China to United Kingdom i.e. Wales, England or Scotland will be approximately 6 weeks.
However, for ocean freight, it will obviously take more days.
As a general rule, you should add about 7 days from the time the consignment leaves the manufacturer’s premises.
However, at Tj China Freight, we can reduce this time frame.
Talk to us today, and we will handle all your door to door shipping from China to UK.
Whenever you’re importing from China to the United Kingdom, you can choose many modes of shipping.
The mode of shipping will depend on:
i. Cost of shipping
ii. Type and nature of goods
iii. Space available, i.e. volumetric shape is key in ocean freight
iv. Whether you’re going for ocean freight or air freight
So, which options should you consider?
We have:
Now, let’s discuss each mode of shipping from China to U.K.
This is simply a refrigerated container suitable for transportation of commodities requiring controlled temperatures and perishable goods.
Some of the temperature sensitive goods likely to be transported in these containers are: dairy products, fruits, meat, fish, flowers, pharmaceutical products among others across long distances.
This type of the container can maintain temperature within the range needed throughout the transit time.
Reefer containers are designed with bottom air delivery units which distributes chilled air from its floor via the T-designed deck.
This air then moves consistency throughout the container.
Reefer container
Regardless of the room temperatures, the reefer containers have warm ups which are able to elevate the temperatures to about 30 degrees Celsius if need be.
And please note:
Reefer is designed to maintain the pre-cooled cargo temperature to its destination, but not to reduce the temperature.
When chilled cargo is to be transported, heat and gases have to be removed by ensuring constant air flow and this is made possible by providing the cartons with ventilations.
In the case of the frozen cargo, gaps between the cargo and the walls and the cargo itself cargo is avoided by ensuring air flows around the cargo (block stowed).
For better stowing, a checklist is necessary which will ensure;
i. There is no stuffing of the cargo beyond the T-floor end
ii. Cargo stuffing should not exceed the red load line
iii. Cargo should not shift during the passage by ensuring they are made stable on the floor
iv. Carrying temperature should be well set and monitored
v. Dehumidification controls must be constantly monitored
vi. Only the cargo has to be pre-cooled, but not the container in cases where pre-cooling is necessary. It is with an exception only if the container is placed in a cold storage tunnel with air lock.
vii. Ventilation’s should be free from any obstacle since this system needs a free flow of air
This type of container consignment carries different types of goods of different origin and importers.
The goods are normally cleared and handled independently.
The container is put into the vessel once it is full.
This means that all the goods packed in the same container will be consolidated up to the point when the container is cost effective for shipping.
Important to note is that all the consolidated goods must be heading to the same port of destination.
To come up with the shipping cost, the individual space (cubic meters) taken by every good will determine how much one will pay.
This is the cheapest sea/ocean shipping mode when one is considering importing small quantities of commodities.
LCL Shipping
Even though this mode shipping is cheap, it always takes longer time due to prolonged consolidation and handling time.
Consolidation is done both at the departure and destination port plus independent clearance of every package.
Due to availability of different packages in one container, one has to ensure he does good packaging to avoid the damages during transit.
Goods which are chemical in nature have to be declared before transit for precaution to be made to avoid any further damages.
Every package is marked for easy identification at the destination port.
This is used where one has too much goods which is almost or full of a container.
The container is treated as a single entity and all handling and clearance is done singly.
This saves a lot of time compared to the LCL and also it is safe as it can be easily tracked.
During tracking after the ship departs, the booking number or the shipping container is used to track the duration shipment can take in the sea/ocean.
Charges on the FCL are flat rate compared to those of LCL where the charges are levied on each and every individual package.
FCL Shipping
There are three commonly used container types during shipping:
Each container should hold a load of 28 tones.
There is always the difference on how LCL and FLC are handled both at the port of departure and at the port of destination. It is due to the ownership inside the containers.
The following are what makes LCL and FCL vary in the way they are being handled;
Handling of the FCL takes minimal time compared to the LCL.
It is because the supplier takes the responsibility of loading, sealing and transporting to the port of departure.
There is always no need of opening the consignment at the departure port till it reaches the destination port where the importer clears and collects it.
For the sake of LCL, a lot of time is utilized during handling since every package has to be treated independently.
This is during consolidation at the port of departure and at the port of destination during segregation for individual packages for clearance.
The Freight forwarder issues bill of lading directly in the case of FCL while in LCL, the bill of lading is given by the official shipping line.
FCL charges less than LCL owing to its low handling activities.
The difference in charges come as a result of handling the LCL both at the destination and departure ports during consolidation and segregation.
Many LCLs in one single container attracts high workloads which automatically pushes the cost high.
During unloading of the LCLs at the port of destination, segregation will be time consuming.
While for FLC, the consignment will just be unloaded from the vessel and sent to the owner.
FCL has one single container number which can easily be tracked.
On the other hand, in LCL, every package has independent shipping mark to help differentiate it from other packages.
When putting marks on the individual LCL packages, care has to be taken to ensure that the marks are visible with bold black color and are waterproof to resist being erased easily.
Basically the writings are supposed to be in English and possibly in the language of the destination port.
For cargos containing dangerous chemicals/substances, orange or red colors are used to mark them.
I know probably, you may have some questions about shipping from China to U.K.
Here, I’m going to cover common questions importers from the U.K. ask whenever they want to ship from China.
You can go through these seven questions, and in case you have any concerns, don’t hesitate to ask.
China to U.K.
Answer: There are so many ports in China and I have highlighted most of them in this guide.
However, as a rule of thumb, use one that is closer to your supplier.
You need to discuss this with your freight forwarder.
Because you need a port that can link you directly to the U.K.
This way, you will save both time and money.
Answer: Normally, the transit time will vary greatly owing to a number of factors.
You can determine the timeframe depending on the transit period and other logistics procedures.
For instance:
In short, you can factor in all these to get all approximate time it will take to ship from China to U.K.
Answer: Beat My Freight Quote is when you deal directly with professional freight forwarder with good knowledge in your area.
All inquiries will be dealt with by the local agent who will make a search of the best deal on your behalf.
So, all the deals will be between the agent and yourself.
In Beat My Freight Quote, no commission is taken for any transaction made and you can save a lot.
In order to be a licensed Beat My Freight Quote Freight, the freight forwarder must either be a member of a national freight forwarding company association.
Also, the freight forwarder must portray a high level of professionalism.
In most cases, they are approved by members of FIATA or IATA cargo agents.
Answer: One can use money transfer systems to pay to that company’s bank account in China.
Most of these freight forwarding companies will have accounts with leading banks such as HSBC (Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation).
The freight forwarder can conveniently and swiftly receive any payment.
Answer: You can declare the cargo booking reference number in place of the “Bill of Lading (B/L) number” in your permit application.
That is, if you haven’t been given the Bill of Lading.
You can update the information once you get the Bill of Lading by simply submitting the amended application.
Answer: Hiring a professional and experienced freight forwarder is the only solution here.
Why?
They will handle all procedures, be it loading, labeling, transportation or clearance.
Such freight forwarders know the rules and regulations governing importing from China into the U.K.
In fact, hiring a professional freight forwarder will save you both money and time.
Answer: The moment your order leaves the warehouse, the freight forwarder will send you the dispatch notification having the tracking information from the carrier.
This will include the carrier website link which one can always use to know the distance status of the consignment.
Anyway, that’s all I had for you in this section.
Do you have any question on shipping from China to U.K., well, leave a quick comment below.
Clearly, importing from China to U.K. is simple and straight forward.
All you should do is to understand everything I have highlighted in this guide.
From evaluating costs, knowing rules and regulations, choosing modes of transport, etc.
And more importantly, hire a professional freight forwarder.
I hope this helps.
Feel free to share this article with your friends.
Also, I’d wish to hear from you – which freight forwarder in China have you worked with before?
What was your experience?