Shipping from China to India: Air & Sea Freight, Transit Time, Import Rules

Chinese origins:

By air, Airlift’s China–India cargo leaves mostly from Zhengzhou (CGO), Chengdu (CTU and Tianfu, TFU), Chongqing (CKG), Kunming (KMG), Ezhou (EHU) and Shanghai Pudong (PVG), which puts factories in central and western China a short truck ride from the plane. By sea, the main load ports are Nansha, Shekou, Shanghai and Ningbo, with Xiamen and Yantian also served by China–India services, and Qingdao and Tianjin less often.

Indian arrival points:

By air, Chennai (MAA) and Bengaluru (BLR). By sea, Chennai for the South; Nhava Sheva (JNPA), which handles about half of the container volume of India’s major ports, and Mundra for West and North India; Kolkata and Visakhapatnam for the East. Inland destinations are served through inland container depots (ICDs) reached by rail or truck from the gateway port.

How an air shipment from China to India moves

• Booking: the flight and routing are chosen against your cargo-ready date, the weights and dimensions and any special handling.
• Pickup and export clearance: the agent collects the cargo, checks it against the packing list, and the export declaration is filed with China Customs.
• Screening and acceptance: the cargo is security-screened and accepted by the airline before its cut-off, and the air waybill is issued.
• Bill of Entry: the importer’s Bill of Entry can be filed on ICEGATE before the flight lands, using the house air waybill reference, so clearance can start on arrival.
• Duty and release: the duty is paid, Customs releases the goods, and Airlift’s India branch arranges delivery to your consignee.

Air or sea

Air is billed on chargeable weight and suits small, urgent or high-value parts; sea is billed per container (FCL) or per cubic meter or 1,000 kg (LCL). For a few cartons of components, air can cost less overall than an LCL shipment once destination handling and the extra weeks of inventory are counted.

Origin city and port

The Chinese city decides the trucking leg to the airport or port. A factory in Chengdu or Zhengzhou is close to an airport with flights to India but far from a seaport, which is one reason air dominates from central and western China.

Routing and relay ports

A direct sailing and a sailing relayed through Singapore or Colombo are priced differently and take different times. Ask which routing the quote uses, especially for Kolkata, Visakhapatnam and the South Indian ports.

China origin and Indian destination charges

Freight covers port to port or airport to airport. Pickup, export clearance and terminal handling in China, and terminal, CFS or air cargo complex charges, customs clearance and delivery in India, are separate lines. Detention and demurrage, charged for keeping a container past its free days, differ by carrier and terminal, so confirm the free days when you book.

Indian duties

Duties are not part of the freight, but they are part of what the goods cost your business: Basic Customs Duty for the HS code, the Social Welfare Surcharge, IGST, and any anti-dumping duty on the product. Agree the HS code with your customs house agent before you order.

What the importer needs

• An Importer Exporter Code (IEC) from the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT). Under paragraph 2.05 of the Foreign Trade Policy 2023, no goods may be imported without one unless specifically exempted, and the IEC is the same as the business’s PAN.
• A GSTIN, so the IGST paid at import can be claimed as input credit.
• The commercial invoice, packing list and bill of lading or air waybill, plus any BIS license or registration the goods require.

Bill of Entry on ICEGATE

• The Bill of Entry is filed electronically on ICEGATE, Indian Customs’ online portal, under section 46 of the Customs Act, 1962.
• Since the Finance Act, 2021, and Notification 34/2021-Customs (N.T.), it is due before the end of the day before the vessel arrives for sea cargo, and by the end of the day the aircraft arrives for air cargo; either can be filed up to 30 days before arrival. For sea cargo from China, including cargo relayed through Colombo, the day-before deadline applies, and the same deadline applies to all imports cleared at an ICD.
• Importers self-assess the duty under section 17, and Customs selects entries for checks mainly on risk. Since October 2020, assessment has been faceless at every port and for all imported goods, under CBIC’s Turant Customs program.

How the duty is built

• Assessable value: the transaction value plus freight and insurance to the Indian port or airport. If the freight is not known, it is taken as 20% of the FOB value, and insurance as 1.125%.
• Basic Customs Duty (BCD): the rate for the HS code in the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975, as modified by exemption notifications. The February 2026 Union Budget changed a number of rates.
• Social Welfare Surcharge (SWS): 10% of the customs duties, not of the goods’ value; it is not charged on anti-dumping, countervailing or safeguard duty.
• Integrated GST (IGST), under section 3(7) of the Customs Tariff Act: the GST rate for the same goods sold in India, calculated on the assessable value plus the customs duties.

BIS Quality Control Orders and electronics registration

• A Quality Control Order (QCO) makes the BIS Standard Mark compulsory for a product, and section 17 of the BIS Act, 2016, bars importing covered goods without a valid license. By March 2025, 187 QCOs covering 769 products had been notified, among them toys (compulsory since January 1, 2021), many steel products (some suspended or deferred since November 2025) and household electrical appliances.
• Electronics and IT goods on MeitY’s Compulsory Registration Order must be registered with BIS; IP CCTV cameras and recorders, for example, also had to meet security requirements from April 9, 2025.
• QCOs change. In 2025 the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals withdrew more than 30 QCOs on chemicals and polymers, including 14 rescinded on November 12, 2025; standards for some steel products were suspended or deferred in November 2025, and QCOs on textile machinery (January 2026) and some fibers were also withdrawn. Check the current BIS list for your product.
• The license is issued to the factory, so the Chinese manufacturer, not the importer, must hold it before production ships.

Anti-dumping duties

• The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) investigates and recommends; the Ministry of Finance imposes the duty under section 9A of the Customs Tariff Act, usually for five years.
• Recent duties on China-origin goods include aluminum foil (Notification 15/2025-Customs (ADD), June 19, 2025), cold rolled non-oriented electrical steel (35/2025, December 18, 2025), R-134a refrigerant (36/2025, December 24, 2025), monoisopropylamine (08/2026, May 22, 2026) and sulphenamide rubber accelerators (11/2026, June 19, 2026).
• Rates are often set per producer, so the manufacturer named on the invoice decides the duty. Anti-dumping duty is not part of the base for the Social Welfare Surcharge.

Origin, trade agreements and investment rules

• India has no free trade agreement with China. Both are members of the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA), under which India gives concessions on a limited list of tariff lines, so a few China-origin goods may qualify for a lower rate with a valid APTA certificate of origin. The CAROTAR 2020 origin rules apply only when such a preference is claimed.
• Press Note 3 (2020), amended by Press Note 2 (2026), covers foreign direct investment from countries sharing a land border with India. It does not restrict importing goods from China.
• Some goods are restricted or prohibited under DGFT import policy whatever their origin: drones, for example, whether built up or in kit form (CBU, SKD or CKD), have been prohibited since February 2022, except for users such as government, R&D and defense entities importing under a DGFT authorization. The importer must confirm compliance with any restriction when filing the Bill of Entry.

Labels on retail packages

• Under the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011, every retail package of imported goods must show, among other declarations, the importer’s name and address, the country of origin and the maximum retail price inclusive of all taxes.
• From July 1, 2027, e-commerce sites must let shoppers filter imported products by country of origin.

By air, on Airlift’s bookings:

• Electronic components and power electronics: thyristors, diodes, LEDs, power supplies and converters, connectors and stepping motors
• Hydraulic and valve parts: accumulators, bladders and shells, valve parts and air filters
• Wire, cable, power cords and copper terminal parts
• Garment and furnishing trims: labels, zippers, linings and roller-blind components

By sea:

Caster wheels, glassware, welding wire, wire-drawing machinery and PVC tarpaulin fabric, mostly as 20′ and 40′ containers into Chennai.

At origin (China)

• Commercial invoice and packing list, with the manufacturer’s name and the HS code
• Export declaration filed with China Customs by the agent
• BIS license or registration in place for the manufacturer where the goods need one

At destination (India)

• Bill of Entry on ICEGATE under the importer’s IEC: by the end of the day before arrival by sea or at an ICD, or by the end of the arrival day by air (it can be filed up to 30 days ahead)
• Basic Customs Duty, Social Welfare Surcharge, IGST and any anti-dumping duty
• Customs filing coordinated by Airlift’s India branch with CHA support

What to check before you choose a forwarder:

• Its own staff in India, where the customs entry, the duty and the delivery happen.
• Advance filing of the Bill of Entry, so clearance starts when the flight or vessel arrives.
• Clear estimates of Indian destination charges and duty before you commit.
• Experience with BIS-regulated goods and anti-dumping duties if your product is covered.
• Tracking and document access for you and your supplier.