What are ways to ship goods from China? What are the differences?
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Ways to ship from China
Express
Shipping from China by express is the fastest and more expensive transportation. It delivers to your doorstep (door to door). It takes 4-8 business days. And can deliver to 200+ countries and territories.
The most used express carriers are DHL, FedEx, UPS, and TNT (acquired by FedEx in 2016). There are also EMS and ARAMEX.
How to determine the chargeable weight of express (DHL, FedEx, UPS, and TNT)?
Chargeable weight is the larger figure of the actual weight and the volumetric weight.
The volumetric weight of express shipping can be calculated according to these formulae:
in KGS: length x width x height (all in CM) / 5000;
in LBS: length x width x height (all in inches) / 139.
Then round up to the nearest half or whole number depending on your total shipping weight.
How to ship by DHL, FedEx, UPS, or TNT?
- You can ask your China suppliers to ship by express by working with freight companies in China. Your partners can choose one of the four carriers (the cheapest one, or the fastest one at that moment). And this is usually cheaper than using your express account.
- You can open an account with one of those express carriers. Your suppliers in China will make shipments via the account number you get. If you have a DHL account, then only ship via DHL. Usually, you can pay DHL monthly.
The advantage and disadvantages of express shipping:
Advantages: fast, secure, and easily trackable
Disadvantage: expensive
Air Freight
Shipping from China by air freight is fast. It delivers to an airport in your country. You will need to do the customs clearance and carry the cargo to your warehouse. It would be easier if you hire a customs broker to do this for you.
If you work with a freight company, you can have them do all things before arriving at your warehouse. You can also have your suppliers in China do all that for you. Just pay your suppliers in China, and they instead of you hire a freight company.
Air freight takes a few days longer than express, as customs clearance of both export and import isn’t handled by the carriers. It also can deliver to 200+ countries and territories.
Mostly conventional air freight is used when your cargo is more than 100 kg (chargeable weight).
How to determine the shipping weight of air freight?
The volumetric weight of air freight in KGS can be calculated according to this formula:
length x width x height (all in CM) / 6000
The advantages and disadvantages of air freight:
Advantages: fast, secure, and trackable.
Disadvantage: expensive.
Ocean Freight
Ocean freight is cheap means of transportation. It delivers to a seaport near you and then delivers to you by truck. It takes much longer than express or air freight, but you pay much less. Especially when your cargo is large.
You or your suppliers in China can hire a freight company to make ocean shipping. When the vessel arrives at the seaport, you can do customs clearance by yourself, or you can hire a customs broker to do that. When your cargo gets released, you can carry it from the port to your warehouse.
By working with a freight company, you are able to get door-to-door delivery with ocean freight.
Ocean freight routes from China and port information: https://cargofromchina.com/shipping-routes/
The advantages and disadvantages of ocean freight:
Advantages: cheap, trackable.
Disadvantages: slow, destination port could be far away from you.
Rail Freight
Rail freight has been a method of transport in full development for several years. Indeed, China, which is notably at the initiative of the project, is investing important sums in this program which they themselves call “the Silk Road”.
Transport by train is a real alternative compared to sea and air freight: faster than the boat, and cheaper than the airplane, it is sometimes the happy medium, the perfect formula for your expedition.
Railway stations in Europe
Germany: Burghausen, Basel, Duisburg, Hamburg, Kornwestheim, Leipzig, Munich, Nuremberg, Schkopau, Ludwigshafen
Austria: Vienna, Wels
Belgium: Antwerp
Spain: Barcelona, Bilbao, Tarragona, Madrid
Sweden: Goethenburg, Malmo
Finland: Kotka
Italy: Bologna, Trieste, Verona, Busto Arsizio
France: Bayonne, Lyon
Netherlands: Rotterdam
Hungary: Gyoer, Budapest
Poland: Malaszewiche
Norway: Oslo
Railway stations in Eurasia
Russia: Ekaterinburg, Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Vladivostok, Irkutsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Kaluga, Tomsk, Bazaiha, Cheljabinsk, Perm, Samara, Omsk, Novomoskovsk, Tobolsk, Irkutsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Kaluga, Tomsk, Bazaiha, Cheljabinsk, Perm, Samara, Omsk, Novomoskovsk, Tobolsk
Estonia: Tallinn, Narva, Paldiski
Belarus: Minsk, Mogilev, Orscha
Kyrgyzstan: Alamedin, Bischkek, Osh
Azerbaijan: Baku, Kishly
Latvia: Riga, Zilupe, Daugavpils
Ukraine: Kiev, Odessa, Dnepropetrovsk
Uzbekistan: Taschkent, Chukursay, Uchkuduk
Turkmenistan: Aschgabad, Balkanabad, Turkmenbaschi
Lithuania: Vilnus, Klaipeda, Kjana
Kazakhstan: Almaty, Aktau, Karaganda
Tajikistan: Duschanbe, Hudzhand, Kurgan-Tjube
Railway stations in Asia
China: Changchun, Changsha, Chengdu, Chongqing, Dalian, Foshan, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Qingdao, Shanghai, Shenyang, Shenzhen, Suzhou, Tianjin, Wuhan, Xiamen, Zhengzhou, Yiwu
Russia: Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Voronezh, Volgograd, Samara, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Vladivostok
Central Asia: Naushki (MN), Karagandy (KZH), Atyrau (KZH), Almaty (KZH), Baku (AZB), Bishkek (KRG)