Shipping from China to the UK:
Rates, Postcode Zones & Import VAT

On our contracted forwarder's September 2026 rate card, all UK lanes are door-to-door in RMB per kilo of chargeable weight. Air priority (P): RMB 36–50/kg on own VAT or deferred, RMB 38–53/kg duty and VAT paid. Air economy (C): 41–59/kg own VAT or deferred, 44–62/kg duty paid. Rail-truck: RMB 13–19/kg. Oversized and palletised cargo: RMB 41/kg by air or 7.5/kg by sea head-haul plus a pallet delivery fee of RMB 630–1,200 per pallet depending on the postcode zone.

They are three ways to handle UK import VAT, and the card prices all three. Own VAT: you clear with your own UK VAT number and account for the import VAT on your return; we charge a RMB 200 per shipment clearance fee and no product surcharge. VAT deferred: the import VAT goes onto your VAT return through postponed VAT accounting instead of being paid at the border — same RMB 200 clearance fee. Duty paid: we pay the duty and the VAT ourselves and a product-category surcharge applies, so the price you see is the price to your door.

Air: 5–7 working days to pickup after we receive the goods, cleared at Heathrow. Rail-truck: 25–30 days to pickup, counted from two days after the container is loaded. Oversized air cargo: 9–12 days plus 2–3 days delivery after clearance. Oversized sea cargo: 40–45 days. Add 3–7 days of consolidation and export paperwork in China before the cut-off.

Because UK delivery is priced in 22 postcode zones, and the zone is set by the postcode area, not by county or city. Outbound London (E, EC, WC, W1–W2, SW1/3–4/7–11, SE1/5/11/15–17) is zone 17 and the most expensive; Manchester (M) is zone 2; Birmingham (B) is zone 1; Northern Ireland (BT) is zone 22 at RMB 1,200 per pallet. A Leeds (LS) parcel and a Bradford (BD) parcel next door sit in different zones. Give us the postcode and we look it up.

Chargeable weight is the greater of actual and volumetric weight, with volumetric weight = length × width × height in centimetres ÷ 6,000. The minimum is 5 kg per shipment and 12 kg per box, and a 50% bubble split applies to bulky light cargo. On palletised oversized services the shipment is billed as a head-haul rate per kilo plus a delivery fee per 120 × 80 cm pallet position; the maximum pallet is 100 × 120 × 200 cm and 800 kg, and the receiving address needs a forklift.

Yes — that is the oversized line, and it is the honest answer for furniture, machinery and anything that will not fit a parcel lane. Air oversized: RMB 41/kg head-haul, 9–12 days, plus 2–3 days delivery after clearance, with a RMB 300 per shipment booking fee. Sea oversized: RMB 7.5/kg head-haul, 40–45 days. Pallet delivery is RMB 630–1,200 per pallet by postcode zone. Parcel lanes take cartons only — no crates, frames or pallets.

Yes, at higher delivery rates, because the forwarder prices them as remote zones: Northern Ireland (BT) is zone 22 at RMB 1,200 per pallet with a RMB 250 clearance surcharge, the Aberdeen and Inverness areas (AB 10–56, IV, KW) are zone 20 at RMB 1,100, and the outer Scottish islands (DG 3–9, FK 20–21, G83–84, PO 30–41, TD 11–15) are zone 19 at RMB 1,040. We tell you the zone before you book, not after.

Yes, and on UK lanes it changes the maths more than on most: duty and VAT are assessed per import entry, and every extra supplier usually means an extra entry. We collect from each factory, check quantities against your PO, consolidate at our Guangzhou warehouse, prepare the UK customs documents, apply the FBA label or commercial delivery rules and hand over one waybill, one cut-off and one document set. FBA rules we check here: two or more labels per carton, Team Lift above 22.5 kg, Heavy Package above 15 kg.