Shipping from China to Singapore: cost, transit time and how it works

1Sea, air or express courier: which one fits

There are three ways goods get from a Chinese supplier to a Singapore address, and the right one depends on how much you are moving and how soon you need it. We do two of the three. Sea freight carries cartons and pallets in shared containers (LCL) or a container of your own (FCL) and is priced by volume. Air freight carries the same cartons in the hold of an aircraft and is priced by weight. Express courier — the DHL, FedEx and SF Express services — carries single parcels door to door in a few days and is priced per parcel.

If you are sending one or two small parcels, an express courier is the right tool and you do not need a freight forwarder. Our minimum is 1 CBM by sea or 10 kg by air, because a forwarder's value is in consolidating, clearing and delivering cargo, and a single parcel does not need any of that. Everything from a few cartons of restock upwards is where sea and air freight stop being expensive and start being the obvious choice.

The rest of this guide is about the two we do. The sea freight guide and the air freight guide go deeper on each; if you are weighing a shared container against your own, read LCL vs FCL.

The cheapest way to ship from China to Singapore depends on the size of the order. For one or two small parcels it is an express courier, or the platform's own small-parcel shipping if you bought on Taobao. From about 1 CBM, roughly one sofa or a dozen large cartons, sea LCL at S$82 per CBM is the cheapest, because it is priced on volume and every supplier's cartons travel as one shipment. When an order comes close to filling a container, compare a full-container quote as well; LCL vs FCL shows where the line falls. Furnishing a flat from Taobao? The Taobao consolidated shipping guide shows how to merge every shop into one sea shipment.

2Sea freight rates from China to Singapore: priced per CBM

Sea LCL is priced per cubic metre (CBM): the length, width and height of each carton in metres, multiplied together, multiplied by the number of cartons, added up across the shipment. Our published rate is S$82 per CBM, hub to door, with a minimum of 1 CBM — a shipment smaller than that is billed as 1 CBM. Weight comes in only for heavy cargo: the charge is on the greater of the volume and the weight at 500 kg per CBM, so 1,000 kg counts as 2 CBM. Most cargo is charged on volume; a dense load such as tiles, stone, metal parts or hand tools is charged on weight.

A worked example. Twenty cartons of 60 × 40 × 50 cm: each carton is 0.6 × 0.4 × 0.5 = 0.12 CBM, so twenty cartons are 2.4 CBM. The indicative sea freight is 2.4 × S$82. Five of the same cartons would be 0.6 CBM, below the minimum, so they would bill as 1 CBM. The calculator below does this arithmetic for as many carton sizes as you have.

Sea FCL — a 20', 40' or 40' high-cube container of your own — is quoted per booking. Carrier rates for whole containers move weekly, so a published figure would be wrong by the time you read it. Send the request and the confirmed quote follows in writing within a few hours, priced on the day's carrier rate. The container is yours from loading to delivery and nothing is handled at a consolidation warehouse, which is what makes FCL the choice for bulky, fragile or high-value loads once the volume justifies it. Transit is the same 10–14 days hub to door.

3Air freight rates from China to Singapore: priced per kg

Air freight is priced on chargeable weight, which is the greater of two numbers: the actual weight on the scale, and the volumetric weight — length × width × height in centimetres, divided by 6000, per carton. Light, bulky goods are charged on volume; dense goods on the scale. Our published rate is from S$6.50 per kg for general cargo, with a 10 kg minimum, hub to door. It covers the same receiving, clearance, delivery and cargo cover as sea, but air cargo goes to our air freight warehouse in Shenzhen rather than the Foshan hub; we confirm any storage there when you book.

A worked example. Ten cartons of 60 × 40 × 50 cm weighing 4 kg each are 40 kg on the scale, but 60 × 40 × 50 ÷ 6000 = 20 kg volumetric each, so 200 kg volumetric. The chargeable weight is 200 kg, and the indicative air freight is 200 × S$6.50. The same ten cartons full of ceramic tiles at 25 kg each would be 250 kg actual against 200 kg volumetric, so charged on 250 kg. Same boxes, different bill — which is why we ask for dimensions and weights before quoting.

Batteries, liquids, powders, magnets and aerosols are treated as sensitive or dangerous goods by air carriers and need checks before they fly; sea is usually the practical route for them. Tell us what is in the cartons when you ask for a quote. The air freight guide has more worked examples and the full sea-versus-air comparison, and the chargeable weight calculator does the sum for your own cartons.

4How long shipping from China to Singapore takes

Every time we quote is hub to door: from the departure that leaves our hub in China (Foshan for sea, Shenzhen for air) to delivery at your Singapore address, with the permit and customs clearance done inside that window. We do not quote port-to-port or airport-to-airport times, because a date your goods reach a terminal you cannot walk into is not a date you can plan around.

Departures leave the hub Monday to Saturday. Cargo received on a working day before the hub closes at 5:00pm leaves on the next working day. Our Shenzhen warehouse, where air cargo goes, keeps the same hours. The schedule below is computed for today: the next departure, the cut-off for cargo to reach the hub, and the estimated arrival window in Singapore.

The transit times page covers what causes delays in more detail. In short: Chinese New Year closes factories and couriers for a week or more, typhoon season in the South China Sea can hold a vessel in port for a day or two, and Singapore Customs inspects a share of shipments. If yours is inspected we handle the paperwork and tell you the same day.

5GST and customs clearance for Singapore imports

Singapore charges GST at 9% on goods imported into the country, whoever imports them. The one exception is an air shipment valued below S$400; by sea there is no minimum. It is calculated on the customs value — the cost of the goods plus insurance and freight (CIF) — plus any duty. Duty applies to only four categories: intoxicating liquor, tobacco, motor vehicles and petroleum products. Everything else is duty-free but still attracts GST. Singapore Customs sets this out on its GST on imports and customs value pages.

Before the goods are released, an import permit has to be lodged with Singapore Customs. A Registered Declaring Agent is an entity registered with Customs to apply for permits on the importer's behalf and to pay the duty and GST due on them. Empirical Marine and Trading Pte. Limited (UEN 202418701E), the company behind Shiplet, is one, so the permit is lodged in-house, with no third party in the chain. We pay the GST at clearance and pass it through on your invoice at cost, payable with the freight when your cargo reaches Singapore, before we deliver it. By default our company is the importer on the permit, at no extra cost, so that GST cannot be claimed back. A GST-registered business that wants to claim it can have its own company named as importer instead, for a published add-on chosen when booking (see pricing); IRAS explains the rules for consumers importing goods.

You need two documents for almost every shipment: a commercial invoice (what the goods are, how many, unit price, total value and currency — this is what GST is assessed on) and a packing list (carton count, dimensions and weights — this is what we check your cargo against at the hub). Upload them as soon as you accept your confirmed quote (we email you the link) and the permit is never the thing holding your shipment up. The GST and customs clearance guide walks through the whole process, with the official sources, and the import GST calculator works out the tax on your own figures.

Every line on the permit carries an HS code, the number that tells Customs what the goods are and whether they are controlled; the HS code guide explains how to find yours. Most goods need no import licence at all, only the permit we lodge for each shipment. The exceptions are covered in do you need an import licence in Singapore.

6Restricted and sensitive goods

Most goods that people worry about can be shipped — with the right paperwork, the right mode and a carrier willing to accept them. The categories that need a conversation before your supplier ships are: anything containing a lithium battery (power banks, tools, e-bikes, laptops), liquids and aerosols, powders, food and beverages (the importer needs a Singapore Food Agency licence), cosmetics and skincare (notified to the Health Sciences Authority), medicines, supplements and medical devices, and magnets. Air carriers apply dangerous-goods rules to most of these; sea is usually the practical route.

What is not accepted at all: counterfeit goods, items prohibited under Singapore law, undeclared dangerous goods, and anything you would rather not describe accurately on an invoice. Singapore Customs publishes the list of controlled and prohibited goods.

7Working with your supplier: the hub address, packing list and labels

Your supplier does not ship internationally — they deliver domestically to our consolidation hub in Foshan, Guangdong, which almost every factory and 1688 seller in China will do cheaply and without fuss. Give them the address below in Chinese, exactly as written. Receiving hours are Mon–Sat, 8:00am – 5:00pm, except public holidays. Air cargo goes to our air freight warehouse in Shenzhen instead. It keeps the same hours, and its address is in the air freight guide.

1. Ask for a packing list before you pay. Carton count, dimensions and weights per carton. It is what we check the delivery against, and it is what your quote is built on.
2. Ask for a commercial invoice with unit prices and the total value in one currency. GST is assessed on it.
3. Have every carton marked. Your booking confirmation gives you a marking code for that order only: WHL/SHIPLET/ followed by five characters. Ask each supplier to write it on the outside of every carton with the carton number (1/20, 2/20 and so on), so the hub can match a delivery to your booking the moment it arrives. On a 1688 order sent by courier, put the code in the recipient name as well.
4. Time your suppliers. We hold cartons free for 5 days while the rest of a consolidation arrives, then S$20 per CBM per day. The sooner the last carton lands, the sooner the whole order leaves.

When cargo arrives we receive it, count every carton against the packing list, and tell you if the numbers do not match — before it sails, not after. Several suppliers' cartons are shipped together as one consignment, priced on the total volume. The 1688 shipping guide for businesses covers multi-supplier consolidation in detail.

Agree the price basis before you pay. A supplier quoting EXW, FOB or DDP is offering different things about who pays for which leg, and the Incoterms guide explains which to ask for when we carry the freight. What a commercial invoice and packing list need to show has a filled-in example of both.

8Shipping from Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan and the rest of China

We do not run separate services from separate cities, and you do not need one. Suppliers in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Yiwu, Ningbo or anywhere else in mainland China deliver domestically to the Foshan hub (or, for air, to our Shenzhen warehouse), and the shipment to Singapore starts from there. That is what makes it possible to buy from a factory in Zhejiang and a wholesaler in Guangdong and receive one delivery in Singapore with one permit and one invoice. The domestic leg is arranged and paid by the supplier, or by you with the supplier, and is not part of our rate. When a supplier will not deliver, we can collect from them and quote the pickup separately: see China domestic delivery.

So sea freight from Guangzhou, Shenzhen or Yiwu to Singapore is priced exactly like sea freight from Foshan: S$82 per CBM from the hub to your door, with the supplier's domestic delivery to the hub on top, which is often free on 1688 and Taobao listings.

9Step by step: from quote to delivery

1. 1

   Send your details

   Route, mode, what the goods are, rough size and weight, and when they're ready. You get a reference number immediately.

2. 2

   Your instant quote, then the confirmed quote

   Your instant quote appears as you fill in the form. Our team checks the details and sends the confirmed quote in writing within a few hours, with the all-in figure, transit window and next sailing or flight. Nothing is booked and nothing is payable until you accept the confirmed quote.

3. 3

   Your supplier delivers to our warehouse

   Sea cargo to our Foshan hub, air cargo to our Shenzhen warehouse. We receive, count every carton against the packing list, and tell you if the numbers don't match — before it leaves, not after. Five days' storage free at Foshan.

4. 4

   Departure and transit

   Your cargo leaves on the next departure, Monday to Saturday. You get the departure confirmation and an arrival estimate. Cargo is covered at declared invoice value.

5. 5

   Clearance and delivery

   We lodge the import permit and clear customs. When your cargo reaches Singapore you pay by PayNow or bank transfer, and then we deliver to your Singapore address.

Nothing is booked and nothing is payable until you accept the confirmed quote. You pay when your cargo reaches Singapore, before we deliver it, by PayNow or bank transfer — no card details, no deposit. Cargo is covered in transit at its declared invoice value: missing cargo is compensated in full, and damage is assessed case by case on the evidence. The How it works page has the full version of each step.

Moving house rather than moving stock? Boxes, furniture and household goods follow the same route; the personal effects guide covers packing, the inventory list and delivery into an HDB flat or condo. Buying new furniture for a flat or a shop? The furniture shipping guide covers measuring, packing and delivery. And if you want to know who you are dealing with before you send anything, the freight forwarder in Singapore page and About set out exactly what we do and do not do.

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