China → UK Shipping Cost Calculator
Air priority, air economy, rail-truck and palletised lanes to the UK — priced in three import-VAT terms (own VAT, VAT deferred, duty and VAT paid). Enter your postcode and cargo weight to see your delivery zone, the rate band and the rules that apply.
Calculate my shipping cost* Rail-truck lane, own-VAT or deferred terms, top weight band. Indicative band from the forwarder's rate card in effect 22 Sep 2026 — exact price confirmed on request.
Your Postcode, Your Terms, Your Options
Air, rail-truck and pallet lanes side by side, priced by weight band, import terms and UK delivery zone.
Get the confirmed rate
We send back the binding price for your postcode zone and import terms, the transit time and the surcharges that apply — usually within one working day. Your calculation is attached automatically.
The three UK import VAT terms
The UK is the one market where buyers regularly choose between three customs terms rather than just DDP or DAP. The goods, the lane and the transit time are identical — what changes is who pays the import VAT and when.
| Term | Who clears it | VAT cash flow | Our fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Own VAT (self-clearing) | Our broker on your VAT number | You declare and reclaim import VAT on your VAT return | RMB 200 per shipment, no product surcharge |
| VAT deferred | Our broker, VAT postponed | No VAT paid at import; it moves to your next VAT return | RMB 200 per shipment, no product surcharge |
| Duty & VAT paid | Us, end to end | Nothing to pay on arrival | Product surcharge built into the lane rate |
Duty rates and VAT amounts depend on the HS code and the product, so they are confirmed per shipment rather than published. What we do publish is the lane band for each set of terms: on the air lanes the own-VAT and deferred rates are identical (RMB 36-50 priority, RMB 41-59 economy), and the duty-paid rate is RMB 2-3 per kg higher (RMB 38-53 and RMB 44-62). Rail-truck runs RMB 13-16 for own-VAT and deferred, RMB 16-19 duty-paid.
What you need on your side
- For own VAT: a UK VAT number and a GB EORI number, so our broker can clear the entry in your name.
- For VAT deferred: the same numbers — postponement is a customs procedure on the entry, not a separate registration.
- For duty & VAT paid: nothing. Both the entry and the tax sit with us.
- Never under-declare value: HMRC can reassess duty and VAT and issue penalties, and it puts your whole import history at risk.
What can travel on these lanes
General cargo is the bulk of what we move to the UK: building materials and hardware, sanitary ware, tiles and stone, lighting, furniture and fittings, ELV and CCTV equipment, tools, packaging, fasteners and FBA shipments. Battery and magnetic goods travel on the air economy (C) lane with a declaration; oversized, palletised and wood-cased cargo travels on the oversized lanes.
Not accepted on any lane: counterfeit or branded goods, weapons and replicas, pure batteries and power banks, mobile phones on selected lanes, pharmaceuticals, flammable, explosive or corrosive goods, unknown powders and liquids, antiques, currency and stamps, live animals and human remains, and food on general lanes.
Packaging, surcharges, liability
Packaging and pallets
- Carton lanes take cartons only — no wooden crates, frames or pallets.
- Oversized lanes take crates, wooden frames, pallets and aviation boxes: UK pallet max 100 × 120 × 200 cm and 800 kg.
- Wooden packing needs hinged lids and 10 cm forklift feet.
- FBA cartons: at least two FBA labels each, “Team Lift” above 22.5 kg, “Heavy Package” above 15 kg.
- Irregular packaging can be refused or re-packed at RMB 140-200 per piece.
Surcharges on top of the band
- Clearance fee RMB 200 per shipment on the own-VAT and deferred lanes.
- Duty-paid lane: product surcharge instead of a clearance fee.
- Oversized air lane: booking fee RMB 300 per shipment.
- Pallet delivery: waiting GBP 30 per hour after 15 minutes, timed delivery GBP 30 per shipment, Northern Ireland clearance +RMB 250.
- Peak season (mid-November to February) adds carrier peak surcharges and excludes delay compensation.
Claims and liability
- Report window: 20 days for parcels not yet picked up, 60 days from label creation while in transit, 7 days after delivery.
- Air compensation is RMB 40 per kg without a freight refund; sea is RMB 20 per kg; after hand-over to the last-mile carrier liability is capped at USD 100 per shipment.
- Fragile goods damage and partial loss are excluded, and no delay compensation applies in peak season.
UK postcode zones — all 22
Carton lanes (air and rail-truck) are priced nationally, so your postcode does not change the per-kilo band. The oversized and palletised lanes are priced per postcode zone: a head-haul rate per kilo plus a per-pallet delivery fee. The table below lists every zone with the outward-code areas it covers and the per-pallet delivery fee on the air and sea oversized lanes. Enter your postcode above and the matching row is highlighted.
Ranges are shown the way the forwarder's card lists them: DN1-12 means districts 1 to 12 of the DN area, and a following token like 14-22, 55 continues the same area. Some areas appear in more than one zone because the district number decides: N1-2 is zone 14 while N3 is zone 11.
Where these numbers come from
Rate card: our contracted forwarder's tariff for China → UK, effective 22 September 2026, issued in RMB (CNY). This page publishes the band and starting rate per lane, import term and postcode zone. The full tariff behind it contains every weight-band price, which is why the binding figure is confirmed per shipment rather than published.
What was extracted: 11 UK door-to-door services (air priority and air economy in three import-VAT terms, rail-truck in three terms, plus oversized air and sea pallet lanes), 6 air weight bands, 3 rail weight bands, and all 22 postcode zones with their per-pallet delivery fees, together with the packaging, prohibited-goods and claims rules.
Calculation method: per-box chargeable weight = max(actual weight, volumetric weight at divisor 6000), with a 12 kg minimum per box; shipment chargeable weight = boxes × per-box weight; the weight band is chosen from shipment chargeable weight, then the import term sets the rate band. Pallet lane: head-haul = head rate per kg × chargeable weight, plus per-pallet delivery fee for your zone, plus the booking fee on the air lane.
Currency conversion: GBP / USD / EUR figures use indicative rates (1 RMB = 0.1105 GBP, 0.1395 USD, 0.1285 EUR) for orientation only.
Photo credit: Port of Felixstowe container terminal, by Colin Smith, licensed CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
What this is not: a quotation, and not customs advice. Duty rates, VAT amounts and entry requirements depend on the HS code and your own registrations. Customs inspection, storage, demurrage, waiting time and fees billed at cost are excluded unless the rate card publishes a fixed amount. Rates are valid as of 22 September 2026 and confirmed before booking.
Three Things Decide What You Pay
Own VAT and VAT deferred clear on your VAT number and carry a RMB 200 clearance fee per shipment. Duty and VAT paid sits with us and carries a product surcharge instead, which is why the same air lane is RMB 2-3 per kg higher. Choose by your cash flow and whether you can reclaim import VAT.
Air is priced in six bands — 5 kg+, 12 kg+, 21 kg+, 51 kg+, 101 kg+ and 501 kg+ — and rail-truck in three: 21-100 kg, 101-500 kg and 501 kg+. Every step down in unit rate is real: consolidating several supplier orders into one air shipment usually beats shipping them separately.
Rail-truck is the cheapest per kilo and takes 25-30 days; air priority is roughly three times the per-kilo rate and arrives in 5-7 working days. Sea is only published for oversized, palletised cargo, priced as head-haul plus a per-pallet delivery fee that rises with the distance from the port.
Shipping Terms, Explained
Who pays the duty, the VAT and the clearance fee on each term — and which one protects your margin.
How to read a UK quote that shows three prices for the same lane, and what you need to clear on your own VAT number.
All 11 terms, the four importers actually use, and the cost boundary between them.
The same rate card for the US: four DDP lanes priced by ZIP zone and weight band.
Every lane, all 22 postcode zones and the three import-VAT bases, written out on one page.
Door-to-door European lanes by destination country, air and sea.
How we collect from several suppliers, inspect, consolidate and ship on one booking.
China to UK Shipping — Common Questions
How much does it cost to ship from China to the UK?+
On the September 2026 rate card behind this calculator, DDP door-to-door rates from China to the UK run about RMB 13-19 per kg by rail-truck, RMB 36-53 per kg by air priority and RMB 41-62 per kg by air economy (the lane that takes built-in batteries), depending on your import terms and weight band. The lowest band, 501 kg+, is the cheapest per kilo. Air is 5-7 working days; rail-truck is 25-30 days to pickup. Rates are shown as a band because the binding price depends on your packaging, product category and the flight or sailing you book.
Why are there three prices for the same UK air lane?+
Because UK import VAT can be handled three ways, and the rate card prices each one separately. Own VAT: we clear the goods on your own UK VAT number, import VAT is declared on your VAT return, and we charge a RMB 200 clearance fee per shipment. VAT deferred: the VAT is postponed to your next VAT return, so there is no VAT cash outflow at import - also RMB 200 per shipment. Duty and VAT paid: we pay duty and import VAT, the lane rate carries a product surcharge, and you pay nothing on arrival. The deferred and duty-paid rates are the same as own-VAT on the air lanes; the duty-paid lane is RMB 2-3 per kg higher.
How long does shipping from China to the UK take?+
Air priority (P) is 5-7 working days to pickup after LHR clearance; air economy (C) is on the same schedule. Rail-truck is 25-30 days to pickup after the container is loaded. Oversized and palletised cargo on the air lane takes 9-12 days plus 2-3 working days for delivery after clearance; on the sea lane it is 40-45 days of sailing plus 2-3 working days delivery.
What is the difference between the carton lanes and the pallet lane?+
Carton lanes (air P, air C, rail-truck) are priced per kilo and priced nationally - your postcode does not change the rate. The oversized/palletised lane is priced as a head-haul per kilo (RMB 41/kg by air, RMB 7.5/kg by sea) plus a per-pallet delivery fee that depends on your postcode zone. The 22 UK postcode zones run from about RMB 630 per pallet in the Midlands and the North to RMB 1,200 for Northern Ireland, so this lane is quoted zone by zone in the calculator.
What are the minimum shipment and billing rules?+
Air lanes start at 5 kg per shipment with a minimum chargeable weight of 12 kg per box; rail-truck starts at 21 kg per shipment with a minimum of 12 kg per piece. Chargeable weight is the greater of actual and volumetric weight, with volumetric weight calculated as L x W x H in cm divided by 6000 - so 1 cubic metre is about 167 kg. Above 100 kg actual weight per shipment a 50% bubble split applies on the air lanes.
Can you ship batteries, magnetic goods or oversized items to the UK?+
Battery goods travel on the air economy (C) lane and need a declaration; magnetic goods also need a magnetic inspection report before booking. Oversized cargo - pallets, wooden cases, frames and aviation boxes - travels on the oversized lanes, not as parcels: a UK pallet is capped at 100 x 120 x 200 cm and 800 kg, and the recipient needs a forklift. Pure batteries, power banks, weapons, pharmaceuticals, counterfeit goods, unknown powders and liquids are prohibited on every lane.
Do you deliver to Amazon FBA warehouses in the UK?+
Yes. FBA cartons need at least two FBA labels each, "Team Lift" above 22.5 kg and "Heavy Package" above 15 kg, and wooden packing needs hinged lids with 10 cm forklift feet. Amazon appointment requirements and delivery windows are handled by our team at booking - tell us the FBA code when you request the quote.
Is my postcode in your coverage, and which zone is it?+
The calculator reads the outward code of your postcode (the letters and first one or two digits, for example M1, DN14, SW1A, BT1) and matches it to one of 22 delivery zones. Mainland England and Wales sit in zones 1-11, Scotland in 12-21 and Northern Ireland (BT) is zone 22. The full zone table, with the postcode areas in each zone and the pallet delivery fee, is on the Postcode zones tab. If a postcode is not recognised, message us and we will quote it manually.
What is not included in the band?+
Customs inspection fees, storage and demurrage, re-delivery, waiting time (GBP 30 per hour after 15 minutes), timed delivery (GBP 30 per shipment), the Northern Ireland clearance surcharge (RMB 250) and anything the forwarder bills at cost. Peak season from mid-November to February adds carrier surcharges and excludes delay compensation. The binding price for your shipment is confirmed in writing before booking.
How do I get the exact UK price?+
Send the UK postcode, the number of boxes or pallets, the weight and dimensions, the product and the import terms you want (own VAT, deferred or duty-paid). We come back with the confirmed rate for your zone, the transit time and any surcharge - usually within one working day, in GBP, EUR or USD if you prefer. Our Guangzhou team can also handle the sourcing, inspection and consolidation side in the same project.
Need the exact UK price, or the sourcing side too?
We are a Guangzhou sourcing agent: we find and audit suppliers, negotiate factory prices, inspect goods and consolidate cargo — then ship it to your door on the lanes above. Send us the postcode, the boxes or pallets, the product and the import terms you want, and we come back with the confirmed rate.