HK General Cargo Duty Paid
✈️ Air Freight → Dubai/Sharjah| Bracket | Rate (USD/shipment) |
|---|---|
| 16-99 | USD 34.50 |
| 100-299 | USD 75.87 |
| 300-499 | USD 117.54 |
| 500+ | USD 117.39 |
Middle East
✈️ Air Freight
🚢 Sea Freight
How Much Does It Cost to Ship from China to UAE?
Indicative published rates by air, sea and rail. Freight only — duty, tax and clearance depend on your product and are quoted separately.
Freight from China to UAE runs 5-10 days by air and 25-45 days by sea, door to door. Duty and tax are assessed by Federal Customs Authority (UAE); the duty-free position is AED 300. Send weight and dimensions for a landed cost on your exact cargo.
- Customs authority
- Federal Customs Authority (UAE)
- Clearance dwell
- 2–5 days
Indicative planning references only, not a quotation. Actual cost depends on the product and its HS code, chargeable weight, declared value, destination duty and tax and the exchange rate on the day, and can be higher or lower.
Current Rates — China to UAE
Updated 2026-09-30| Service | Mode | Rate | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best Value HK General Cargo Duty Paid | ✈️ Air Freight | USD 75.9/shipment | View Details → |
| HK General Cargo Duty Paid | ✈️ Air Freight | USD 76.2/shipment | View Details → |
| HK Brand Cargo Duty Paid | ✈️ Air Freight | USD 76.3/shipment | View Details → |
| HK Brand Cargo Duty Paid | ✈️ Air Freight | USD 76.6/shipment | View Details → |
| HK Battery Cargo Duty Paid | ✈️ Air Freight | USD 77.2/shipment | View Details → |
- HK General Cargo Duty Paid: Priced per shipment, not per kilogram.
- HK General Cargo Duty Paid: Priced per shipment, not per kilogram.
- HK Brand Cargo Duty Paid: Priced per shipment, not per kilogram.
- HK Brand Cargo Duty Paid: Priced per shipment, not per kilogram.
- HK Battery Cargo Duty Paid: Priced per shipment, not per kilogram.
How these prices are calculated — chargeable weight
Freight is not billed on the number on your bathroom scale. It is billed on chargeable weight: the greater of actual gross weight and volumetric weight, where volumetric weight is L × W × H (cm) ÷ 6000. Denser cargo pays on its weight; light bulky cargo pays on the space it occupies. Whichever is higher is the one you pay — never the lower.
- One cubic metre = 167 kg. That is 1,000,000 cm³ ÷ 6000, the same divisor used for the volumetric check, so both sides of this page agree with each other.
- Freight only. These are published freight rates. Duty, tax and customs charges at destination are not a fixed number we can print: they follow your product's HS code, its declared value and the exchange rate applied on the day of entry, so they are confirmed against your actual goods and quoted separately.
- Indicative only — the real price can be higher or lower. Nothing on this page is a quotation or a commitment. What you finally pay depends on what the product is, how it is packed, the chargeable weight, the declared value, the destination duty position and the exchange rate at the time. Send the product details, weight and dimensions and we will price your specific shipment.
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Full Weight-Tier Rate Cards
Detailed per-weight pricing for every active route from China to UAE. Each tier reflects the published rate at that exact weight — useful for accurate budgeting at common shipment sizes.
HK General Cargo Duty Paid
✈️ Air Freight → Other Zones| Bracket | Rate (USD/shipment) |
|---|---|
| 16-99 | USD 34.79 |
| 100-299 | USD 76.17 |
| 300-499 | USD 117.83 |
| 500+ | USD 117.69 |
HK Brand Cargo Duty Paid
✈️ Air Freight → Dubai/Sharjah| Bracket | Rate (USD/shipment) |
|---|---|
| 16-99 | USD 34.94 |
| 100-299 | USD 76.31 |
| 300-499 | USD 117.98 |
| 500+ | USD 117.83 |
HK Brand Cargo Duty Paid
✈️ Air Freight → Other Zones| Bracket | Rate (USD/shipment) |
|---|---|
| 16-99 | USD 35.23 |
| 100-299 | USD 76.60 |
| 300-499 | USD 118.27 |
| 500+ | USD 118.12 |
HK Battery Cargo Duty Paid
✈️ Air Freight → Dubai/Sharjah| Bracket | Rate (USD/shipment) |
|---|---|
| 16-99 | USD 35.82 |
| 100-299 | USD 77.19 |
| 300-499 | USD 118.86 |
| 500+ | USD 118.71 |
✈️ Air Freight Options
🚢 Sea Freight Options
Trade Terms Explained — Who Pays for What
The rate above is quoted on one specific trade term. Change the term and you change how much of the journey to UAE is already inside the price. The table below maps the eleven common Incoterms® against the twelve cost stages of a door-to-door shipment, so you can see exactly where our responsibility ends and yours begins.
- Seller — Cost and arrangement sit with the seller / shipper.
- Buyer — Cost and arrangement sit with the buyer / consignee.
- Negotiable — Not fixed by the rule — agree it in the contract.
| Term | 1 Loading on truck | 2 Export customs declaration | 3 Carriage to port of export | 4 Unloading at port of export | 5 Loading on vessel / aircraft | 6 Main carriage | 7 Cargo insurance | 8 Unloading at port of import | 9 Loading on truck at import | 10 Carriage to destination | 11 Import customs clearance | 12 Import duties & taxes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EXW Ex Works | Buyer Buyer — Loading on truck | Buyer Buyer — Export customs declaration | Buyer Buyer — Carriage to port of export | Buyer Buyer — Unloading at port of export | Buyer Buyer — Loading on vessel / aircraft | Buyer Buyer — Main carriage | Buyer Buyer — Cargo insurance | Buyer Buyer — Unloading at port of import | Buyer Buyer — Loading on truck at import | Buyer Buyer — Carriage to destination | Buyer Buyer — Import customs clearance | Buyer Buyer — Import duties & taxes |
| FCA Free Carrier | Seller Seller — Loading on truck | Seller Seller — Export customs declaration | Buyer Buyer — Carriage to port of export | Buyer Buyer — Unloading at port of export | Buyer Buyer — Loading on vessel / aircraft | Buyer Buyer — Main carriage | Buyer Buyer — Cargo insurance | Buyer Buyer — Unloading at port of import | Buyer Buyer — Loading on truck at import | Buyer Buyer — Carriage to destination | Buyer Buyer — Import customs clearance | Buyer Buyer — Import duties & taxes |
| FAS Free Alongside Ship | Seller Seller — Loading on truck | Seller Seller — Export customs declaration | Seller Seller — Carriage to port of export | Seller Seller — Unloading at port of export | Buyer Buyer — Loading on vessel / aircraft | Buyer Buyer — Main carriage | Buyer Buyer — Cargo insurance | Buyer Buyer — Unloading at port of import | Buyer Buyer — Loading on truck at import | Buyer Buyer — Carriage to destination | Buyer Buyer — Import customs clearance | Buyer Buyer — Import duties & taxes |
| FOB Free On Board | Seller Seller — Loading on truck | Seller Seller — Export customs declaration | Seller Seller — Carriage to port of export | Seller Seller — Unloading at port of export | Seller Seller — Loading on vessel / aircraft | Buyer Buyer — Main carriage | Buyer Buyer — Cargo insurance | Buyer Buyer — Unloading at port of import | Buyer Buyer — Loading on truck at import | Buyer Buyer — Carriage to destination | Buyer Buyer — Import customs clearance | Buyer Buyer — Import duties & taxes |
| CFR Cost and Freight | Seller Seller — Loading on truck | Seller Seller — Export customs declaration | Seller Seller — Carriage to port of export | Seller Seller — Unloading at port of export | Seller Seller — Loading on vessel / aircraft | Seller Seller — Main carriage | Buyer Buyer — Cargo insurance | Buyer Buyer — Unloading at port of import | Buyer Buyer — Loading on truck at import | Buyer Buyer — Carriage to destination | Buyer Buyer — Import customs clearance | Buyer Buyer — Import duties & taxes |
| CIF Cost, Insurance and Freight | Seller Seller — Loading on truck | Seller Seller — Export customs declaration | Seller Seller — Carriage to port of export | Seller Seller — Unloading at port of export | Seller Seller — Loading on vessel / aircraft | Seller Seller — Main carriage | Seller Seller — Cargo insurance | Buyer Buyer — Unloading at port of import | Buyer Buyer — Loading on truck at import | Buyer Buyer — Carriage to destination | Buyer Buyer — Import customs clearance | Buyer Buyer — Import duties & taxes |
| CPT Carriage Paid To | Seller Seller — Loading on truck | Seller Seller — Export customs declaration | Seller Seller — Carriage to port of export | Seller Seller — Unloading at port of export | Seller Seller — Loading on vessel / aircraft | Seller Seller — Main carriage | Negotiable Negotiable — Cargo insurance | Seller Seller — Unloading at port of import | Seller Seller — Loading on truck at import | Seller Seller — Carriage to destination | Buyer Buyer — Import customs clearance | Buyer Buyer — Import duties & taxes |
| CIP Carriage and Insurance Paid | Seller Seller — Loading on truck | Seller Seller — Export customs declaration | Seller Seller — Carriage to port of export | Seller Seller — Unloading at port of export | Seller Seller — Loading on vessel / aircraft | Seller Seller — Main carriage | Seller Seller — Cargo insurance | Seller Seller — Unloading at port of import | Seller Seller — Loading on truck at import | Seller Seller — Carriage to destination | Buyer Buyer — Import customs clearance | Buyer Buyer — Import duties & taxes |
| DAT Delivered At Terminal (DPU) | Seller Seller — Loading on truck | Seller Seller — Export customs declaration | Seller Seller — Carriage to port of export | Seller Seller — Unloading at port of export | Seller Seller — Loading on vessel / aircraft | Seller Seller — Main carriage | Negotiable Negotiable — Cargo insurance | Seller Seller — Unloading at port of import | Buyer Buyer — Loading on truck at import | Buyer Buyer — Carriage to destination | Buyer Buyer — Import customs clearance | Buyer Buyer — Import duties & taxes |
| DAP Delivered At Place | Seller Seller — Loading on truck | Seller Seller — Export customs declaration | Seller Seller — Carriage to port of export | Seller Seller — Unloading at port of export | Seller Seller — Loading on vessel / aircraft | Seller Seller — Main carriage | Negotiable Negotiable — Cargo insurance | Seller Seller — Unloading at port of import | Seller Seller — Loading on truck at import | Seller Seller — Carriage to destination | Buyer Buyer — Import customs clearance | Buyer Buyer — Import duties & taxes |
| DDP Delivered Duty Paid | Seller Seller — Loading on truck | Seller Seller — Export customs declaration | Seller Seller — Carriage to port of export | Seller Seller — Unloading at port of export | Seller Seller — Loading on vessel / aircraft | Seller Seller — Main carriage | Negotiable Negotiable — Cargo insurance | Seller Seller — Unloading at port of import | Seller Seller — Loading on truck at import | Seller Seller — Carriage to destination | Seller Seller — Import customs clearance | Seller Seller — Import duties & taxes |
EXW Ex Works
Buyer takes over at the seller's door and carries every cost from there. Lowest quoted price, highest buyer workload.
FCA Free Carrier
Seller clears the goods for export and hands them to the carrier the buyer nominated.
FAS Free Alongside Ship
Sea and inland waterway only. Seller delivers alongside the vessel; loading is on the buyer.
FOB Free On Board
Sea and inland waterway only. Risk passes once the goods are on board. The most common buying term.
CFR Cost and Freight
Seller pays the main carriage but carries no insurance obligation; risk still passes on loading.
CIF Cost, Insurance and Freight
As CFR, plus the seller must buy and pay for cargo insurance (minimum cover unless you agree more).
CPT Carriage Paid To
Any mode. Seller pays carriage through to the named destination; insurance is not obligatory.
CIP Carriage and Insurance Paid
As CPT, plus the seller must insure the cargo through to the named destination.
DAT Delivered At Terminal (DPU)
Seller delivers unloaded at the named terminal. Renamed DPU (Delivered at Place Unloaded) in Incoterms® 2020.
DAP Delivered At Place
Seller delivers to your address ready for unloading; import clearance and duty stay with the buyer.
DDP Delivered Duty Paid
Seller carries everything through to your door, duty and tax included. Highest quoted price, least buyer workload.
Two things worth flagging. Under CIF and CIP the seller is obliged to buy cargo insurance and pay the premium; under every other term insurance is optional, and we recommend buyers arrange their own cover so a loss or damage in transit is recoverable. And this table is a working summary for planning purposes — the binding definitions are the ones published by the International Chamber of Commerce in the Incoterms® rules, so confirm the exact term wording in your sales contract before you ship.
Where Ocean Starts to Make Sense
At 100 KG the arithmetic changes. LCL groupage becomes bookable, and whether it beats air depends almost entirely on density: cargo that fills space without filling the scale prices badly by air and well by sea. This is the band where measuring your cartons properly stops being housekeeping and starts being the largest single lever on what you pay into UAE.
- Measure and weigh a packed carton before asking for a quote — density decides the mode
- LCL is billed per cubic metre with a one-CBM floor, so part-loads round upward
- Air volume discounts usually appear around 100 KG; ask where the next break sits
- A week of extra transit is often cheaper than the air premium at this size
What Affects the Shipping Cost to UAE?
- Density before anything else — one cubic metre is billed as roughly 167 kg, so light bulky cargo pays on the space it occupies
- How well the cargo is packed — wasted void inside a carton is volume you are paying to move
- Sailing week — rates move with vessel space, and the fortnight before Chinese New Year is the sharpest swing of the year
- Where in UAE it is going — the ocean leg is the stable part; the inland run from the quay is what varies
- Declared value, because duty is assessed on it and an optimistic invoice is the most expensive kind
When Does a Full Container Beat Groupage into UAE?
The switch is decided by volume, not weight. Groupage is billed per cubic metre with a one-cubic-metre floor, so its cost climbs in a straight line with your cube. A container is a flat price for the box whether you fill it or not. Those two lines cross somewhere between roughly 12 and 15 m³ on most lanes — below that a consol is cheaper, above it you are paying groupage rates for space a 20GP would have given you outright.
| Box | Usable cube | Payload | What it suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20GP | 33 m³ | ≈ 28 t | Dense cargo — the payload runs out long before the cube does. |
| 40GP | 67 m³ | ≈ 26 t | Twice the space for far less than twice the price. The default for most consolidated buyers. |
| 40HQ | 76 m³ | ≈ 26 t | The extra foot of height pays for itself on anything light and stackable. |
Two things move the crossover on a real booking. Cargo denser than about 167 kg per cubic metre hits a container's payload limit before its cube, so the box fills on weight and the calculation shifts down. And a container starts accruing free-time charges at destination the moment it is discharged — demurrage on the quay, detention off it — which is a cost a consol never hands you. If your cargo sits near the line, send the packed dimensions and we will price both against each other rather than guess.
Free 3D Loading Tools
Shipping to UAE by air or sea? Plan cartons and container loading in 3D before requesting a quote.
3D Carton Packing Calculator
Optimize cartons before tendering cargo to UAE: build the packing plan in 3D and download it for your supplier or forwarder.
Open Packing Tool →3D Container Loading Planner
Not sure if your UAE cargo fills a 20GP or needs a 40HQ? Simulate cartons, crates, pallets, and mixed box sizes in the 3D container planner.
Open Container Planner →Transit Times — China to UAE
| Method | Transit Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Air, consolidated | 5–10 business days | Origin warehouse to the door in UAE |
| Ocean LCL (groupage) | 30–50 calendar days | Shared box to the quay in UAE, then inland |
| Courier | 3–7 business days | Integrator door to door — expensive at this size |
Which Shipping Method is Best?
Recommended
Air Freight
Recommended
Sea Freight
Rail Freight
China to UAE — Shipping Reference Data
Verified shipping reference data for the China → UAE lane:
| Main sea gateways | Jebel Ali (Dubai), Khalifa Port (Abu Dhabi), Sharjah |
|---|---|
| Destination customs authority | Federal Customs Authority (UAE) |
| De-minimis / duty-free threshold | AED 300 |
| Import tax & duty regime | VAT 5%; standard customs duty 5% CIF (0% in free zones) |
| Local currency | AED |
| Typical port/airport dwell time | 2–5 days |
| Peak / busy season | Sep–Nov |
| Conformity & certification | ESMA / ECAS conformity for regulated electronics |
| Main air gateways | DXB / DWC (Dubai), AUH (Abu Dhabi), SHJ (Sharjah) |
Thresholds and bands here are planning references for buyers, not rulings — confirm the exact HS-code rate for your goods before shipping.
Price Trend — UAE
Historical freight rates from China to UAE. Data sourced from live carrier price feeds.
Customs & Documentation for UAE
- A low-value threshold may let small consignments through without duty — worth checking before you split a shipment
- The entry stands or falls on three documents: a commercial invoice that matches reality, a packing list with real weights and dimensions, and an HS code you can defend
- Under a duty-paid booking we file and settle on your behalf; the duty figure itself still follows your commodity, its declared value and the rate applied on the day
- Cells, aerosols and anything liquid need their paperwork ready before the cargo leaves the factory, not after it lands
Where these UAE duty figures come from
Treat the landed-cost numbers here as a planning baseline. Dubai Customs sets the rate that actually gets charged, assessed against your HS classification at the moment of clearance, so their own guidance is worth reading before a large order.
If you want to sanity-check a duty figure yourself, start from the heading rather than the product name — the WCO Harmonized System is the underlying nomenclature, and the WTO Tariff & Trade Data portal holds the applied rates by country pair.
On the air side, anything with a cell or a battery in it, plus liquids, powders, magnets and aerosols, is governed by the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations. Those articles are not refused outright, but they need to be declared at booking so the shipment is built correctly — declaring them late is the single most common cause of an air consignment being offloaded.
On the origin side, export declaration and any commodity inspection requirement fall under China Customs (GACC); we handle that filing as part of the service, but the requirement is theirs, not ours.
For a wider view of how importing into UAE actually works — documentation norms, inspection behavior, the paperwork that tends to hold shipments — the U.S. ITA guide to UAE customs regulations is a useful independent read alongside our own lane notes.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I budget to move cargo into UAE?
Pricing into UAE currently opens at USD 75.87/shipment on HK General Cargo Duty Paid. At 100 KG, the estimated total is approximately USD 76, duty included. Final landed cost depends on the VAT 5%; standard customs duty 5% CIF (0% in free zones) applied by Federal Customs Authority (UAE).
What is the duty position on imports into UAE?
Imports into UAE are assessed by Federal Customs Authority (UAE). The applicable regime is: VAT 5%; standard customs duty 5% CIF (0% in free zones). The duty-free / de-minimis position is AED 300. Under our DDP service these charges are pre-paid and included in the per-KG price, so there is nothing to settle on arrival.
At 100 KG, does ocean beat air into UAE?
At 100 KG into UAE the headline rate favours the water, but the money often does not: a 30–45 day sailing plus 2–5 days on the ground is working capital sitting still. Air also starts discounting above 100 kg. Ocean wins once the cargo is bulky, the reorder cycle is predictable, or the margin is thin enough that transit time is not the constraint.
What does a duty-paid booking into UAE actually cover?
A duty-paid booking into UAE means we carry the freight, the customs entry with Federal Customs Authority (UAE) and last-mile delivery to your door, and quote them together so you settle once. The duty and tax element is not a fixed number: it follows your product's HS code, its declared value and the exchange rate applied on the day of entry, so it is confirmed on your specific goods rather than read off a rate card. The AED 300 de-minimis position applies.
When does space get tight on the UAE lane?
Capacity to UAE tightens around Sep–Nov, on top of the China-side surcharge windows of Chinese New Year (Jan/Feb) and Golden Week (early Oct). Booking 1–2 weeks earlier during these windows protects both space and rate.
How small a consignment is worth booking to UAE?
It depends which door you come in by. Consolidated air opens around 21 kg, occasionally 12; groupage starts at one cubic metre and rounds up to it; single parcels go integrator. Under 21 kg into UAE, courier almost always wins on total cost.
How do I follow the cargo once it has sailed?
Yes. An air consignment carries an AWB that goes live within a day of departure; an ocean booking is followed on the bill of lading through the line's own portal. We push status at the points that matter — sailed, arrived, released by Federal Customs Authority (UAE), delivered — rather than at every terminal scan.
How is chargeable weight calculated?
Chargeable weight is the greater of actual gross weight and volumetric weight, where volumetric weight is L × W × H in centimetres divided by 6000. One cubic metre therefore equals 167 kg. If a consignment weighs 300 kg but measures out to only 200 kg volumetric, it is charged on the 300 kg — the higher of the two always wins.
Watch: how this shipment works end to end
The rates above answer the cost question. This covers the mechanics — useful if you have not shipped to UAE before and are still working out how to structure the order.
Air Freight from China: Soaring Through the Skies of Global Trade — SINO Shipping. Published on YouTube by a third party; we link it because it explains the process well, not because we produced it or endorse the provider.
Shipping to UAE by industry
Rates above are lane rates and apply to general cargo. Packing specification, HS classification and the clearance step that matters are all commodity-specific — these guides cover them industry by industry.
- Flexible Packaging Plastics, Rubber & Packaging
- Home Decor Furniture & Home Products
- Technical Textiles Textiles, Apparel, Footwear & Leather
- Outdoor Products Toys, Sports, Outdoor & Leisure
- Fasteners Metal Products & Industrial Components
- Electric Motors General Machinery & Industrial Equipment
- Wire & Cable New Energy, Power & Electrical
- Wall Panels Building Materials & Construction Products
- Injection Molded Parts Plastics, Rubber & Packaging
- Furniture Furniture & Home Products
- Home Storage Products Furniture & Home Products
- Exhibition Display Equipment Retail, Display & Commercial Fixtures
Customs clearance in Uae
Duty and tax position, certification, typical port dwell and what actually holds shipments at this border — plus who files the entry.
Uae clearance requirements →Priced routes to Uae
- UAE (Dubai/Sharjah) Import Freight from China — Air Freight Cost — Brand Cargo
- UAE (Dubai/Sharjah) Import Freight from China — Air Freight Cost — Duty Paid
- UAE (Other Zones) Import Freight from China — Air Freight Cost
- China to UAE (Dubai Warehouse) Freight — LCL Shipping Rates, Duty Paid — Battery Cargo
- China to UAE (Dubai Warehouse) Freight — LCL Shipping Rates, Duty Paid — Brand Cargo
- China to UAE (Dubai Warehouse) Freight — LCL Shipping Rates, Duty Paid — General Cargo