Shipping from China to Australia — 15–25 days sea freight, duty and customs
Importing into Australia: Import duty is 0% on most goods under ChAFTA where the origin rules are met and typically 5% otherwise; GST 10% on customs value plus duty plus transport and insurance. The importer of record position: The importer, or a licensed customs broker acting as their agent; the Border Force does not complete the declaration for you. Before shipping, Solid-wood packaging must be ISPM 15 treated and stamped with a packing declaration; the stink bug season runs 1 September to 30 April with China treated as emerging risk, and Khapra beetle measures apply to targeted containers. Duty and tax are assessed per commodity code, so these positions are confirmed per shipment.
15–25 days sea freight from China to Australia. What Australia requires on arrival: who may import, what duty and tax apply, and which certification and product rules must be in place.
What does Australia require before the cargo can be imported?
Australia is served from China by ocean, air and express, and the arrival-side requirements below are the part that most often changes a landed cost or holds a shipment at the port. Each position is the one we publish for this market and is confirmed per shipment against the actual commodity code and destination city.
What duty, tax and levies apply on arrival?
Duty and tax
Import duty is 0% on most goods under ChAFTA where the origin rules are met and typically 5% otherwise; GST 10% on customs value plus duty plus transport and insurance
Who is allowed to import into this market?
Importer of record
The importer, or a licensed customs broker acting as their agent; the Border Force does not complete the declaration for you
Import requirements
An ABN is required to import into Australia; duty on most HS codes is near zero under ChAFTA
What certification or product rules must be in place before shipping?
Biosecurity
Solid-wood packaging must be ISPM 15 treated and stamped with a packing declaration; the stink bug season runs 1 September to 30 April with China treated as emerging risk, and Khapra beetle measures apply to targeted containers
Biosecurity
DAFF for Australia and MPI for New Zealand; ISPM 15 wood packaging is mandatory and holds can add 5–14 days
What thresholds and reliefs change the cost?
Low value goods
Goods at or below AUD 1,000 generally clear without border duties or taxes; above that an Import Declaration (N10) and processing charge apply
How long does shipping from China to Australia take?
Typical door-to-door transit on this lane, by mode. These are working ranges rather than carrier-published schedules, so the exact window is confirmed on booking.
Mode
Typical transit
What it covers
Ocean freight FCL
15–25 days
Door to door; carrier schedules show Shekou–Melbourne 14 days and Shanghai–Sydney 14–21 days port to port depending on the service
Ocean freight LCL
30–45 days
Door to door; LCL adds CFS handling at each end on top of the FCL transit
Air freight
8–12 days
Standard air door to door; express air with DHL or UPS is 2–4 days
Express courier
2–4 days
DHL or UPS door to door; add about a day for handling
Which gateway does cargo arrive through in Oceania?
The gateway is the same for every country in Oceania; what changes between countries is the duty, importer and certification position above.
Destination ports
Port Botany (Sydney), Melbourne, Brisbane, Fremantle and Port Adelaide
Gateway ports
Sydney (Port Botany), Melbourne, Brisbane, Fremantle; Auckland, Tauranga
Gateway airports
SYD, MEL, BNE, AKL
How do you turn this into a landed cost?
Duty is assessed per commodity code, so the positions above tell you what to prepare rather than what you will pay. Screen the official duty range for the HS chapter your product falls in with the HS chapter duty lookup, then put the rate for your actual code through the landed cost calculator to see duty, import tax and levies on the CIF value. Transit times, loading ports and the operating detail for this lane are on the China to Australia route page.
Positions reviewed 2026-09-15 by Helen Peng. Duty, importer-of-record and certification answers are confirmed per shipment: a change of commodity code, origin documentation or destination city can change the position.
Where is the rest of this lane documented?
This page covers arrival requirements only. Transit times, loading ports, container options, consolidation frequency, the stage-by-stage breakdown and the remaining questions are on the route page, so they are not repeated here.
We have not yet photographed this lane's destination operations. Rather than borrow a stock or generated picture, the slots below are left empty and labelled. They are filled only with our own photographs from this lane.
Photo to be addedArrival and handling of our cargo in AustraliaOur own photograph from this lane, once recordedPhoto to be addedFinal delivery in AustraliaOur own photograph from this lane, once recorded
Need the duty confirmed for your product?
Send the commodity, its material, its use and the destination city, and we will confirm the position.
