Deciding to import goods from China to India is the easy part — the hard part is that skipping any one of a dozen steps can leave your cargo stuck at Nhava Sheva racking up demurrage, or your duty bill twice what you budgeted. Done in the right order, though, it’s a repeatable process any business can run.
This is the practical 12-step sequence — from getting your IEC and GST to vetting a supplier, choosing freight, clearing customs and paying duty — with the exact documents you’ll need and a realistic view of what it costs. For the deeper background on any step, we link out to the full guides as we go.
Quick answer: To import goods from China to India you need an IEC (Import Export Code) from DGFT and GST registration, the correct HSN code for your product, a vetted supplier (ideally on FOB terms), sea or air freight with marine insurance, and a customs broker to file your Bill of Entry on ICEGATE and pay duty (BCD + SWS + IGST, typically 30%–55% of CIF for general goods). Budget your landed cost as product + freight + duty + clearance before you place the order.
Before you start: the two registrations you can’t skip
1. Get your IEC (Import Export Code)
The IEC is your licence to import, issued by the DGFT and linked to your PAN. You apply online, it’s a one-time registration, and no commercial consignment clears customs without it. This is step zero — sort it before you talk pricing with any supplier.
2. Register for GST
GST registration lets you claim the IGST you pay at customs back as Input Tax Credit — which, as you’ll see below, is the single biggest lever on your real landed cost. Importing without it means carrying IGST as a permanent expense instead of a recoverable one.
3. Find your HSN code — and check what it triggers
Every product has an HSN code, and it decides two things: your duty rate, and whether you need extra clearances. Electronics often need BIS registration, food needs FSSAI, and wireless devices need WPC/ETA approval. Get the code from your supplier’s export classification and verify it independently — a wrong HSN means a wrong duty estimate and a customs query that holds your cargo.
Sourcing and locking the deal (steps 4–7)
4. Find and vet a supplier
Source on Alibaba, Made-in-China.com or Global Sources for B2B, or 1688.com through an agent for the lowest factory price. Whatever the platform, vet hard: verify business licences, ask for existing export references to India, and prefer manufacturers over trading companies for better pricing and control. A good import agent earns their fee here by filtering out the suppliers who look fine online and aren’t.
5. Order samples and inspect quality
Never commit to a bulk order off photos. Get samples, and for anything sizeable, pay for a pre-shipment inspection at the factory before the container is sealed. Catching defects in China is cheap; discovering them after clearance in India is a total loss, because you can’t send goods back.
6. Negotiate price and agree the Incoterm
The Incoterm decides where the supplier’s responsibility ends and yours begins:
- EXW (Ex Works): you handle everything from the factory gate — most control, most work.
- FOB (Free On Board): supplier delivers to the China port and clears export; you take over from there. The usual sweet spot — control over freight without the factory-side hassle.
- CIF (Cost, Insurance, Freight): supplier arranges shipping to India. Convenient, but you lose control of freight cost and routing, and it can hide margin.
For most importers, FOB is the recommended default.
7. Agree safe payment terms
A 30% advance / 70% before dispatch split is standard and protects both sides. Use Trade Assurance or escrow where possible, and a Letter of Credit for large orders. Never wire 100% upfront to a new supplier — that’s how first-time importers get burned.
Shipping and clearing (steps 8–12)
8. Choose your freight — air vs sea, FCL vs LCL
| Mode | Transit | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Air freight | 3–8 days | Urgent, high-value or light cargo |
| Sea — LCL | 15–35 days | Smaller loads (charged per CBM) |
| Sea — FCL | 15–35 days | Full/near-full containers — cheapest per unit |
Sea is the default for bulk; air only when time or value justifies the premium. If your volume is near a container’s worth, FCL almost always beats LCL per unit.
9. Arrange marine insurance
Cargo insurance is cheap (roughly 0.2%–0.5% of value) and non-negotiable — a single damaged or lost consignment without cover wipes out the savings from a dozen good orders. It also forms part of your CIF value for duty.
10. Clear customs via a CHA (ICEGATE Bill of Entry)
Your Customs House Agent (CHA) files the Bill of Entry on the ICEGATE portal, customs assesses it, and after duty payment and any examination the cargo gets its “out of charge.” Having your paperwork ready before the vessel arrives is what keeps clearance to a few days — and keeps demurrage off your bill.
11. Pay your duty (BCD + SWS + IGST)
Import duty is charged on your CIF value as Basic Customs Duty + Social Welfare Surcharge + IGST — typically 30%–55% of CIF for general goods, higher for finished consumer categories. The IGST portion is recoverable as Input Tax Credit if you’re GST-registered; BCD and SWS are a permanent cost. The full mechanics are in our import duty guide.
12. Take last-mile delivery and reconcile
Arrange inland transport from the port to your warehouse, receive and check the goods against your packing list, and reconcile the true landed cost against your estimate. That reconciliation is what makes your next import more accurate — it turns importing from a gamble into a system.
Documents you’ll need
| Document | Issued by | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| IEC certificate | DGFT | Your licence to import |
| Commercial invoice | Supplier | Declared transaction value |
| Packing list | Supplier | Contents, weights, dimensions |
| Bill of Lading / Airway Bill | Carrier | Title & transport contract |
| Insurance certificate | Insurer | Cargo cover (part of CIF) |
| Certificate of Origin | China authority/supplier | Origin (duty & compliance) |
| BIS / FSSAI / WPC (if applicable) | Indian agency | Product-specific clearance |
For the full breakdown, see our guide to the documents required to import from China.
What it costs to import goods from China to India
Your landed cost is a stack, not a single price:
- Product (FOB) — the supplier’s quote
- Freight + insurance — completes your CIF value
- Duty — 30%–55% of CIF for general goods (IGST recoverable)
- Clearance — CHA charges, and demurrage if you’re not ready
- Last-mile — inland transport and handling
Category matters: bulky, heavily-dutied goods cost far more to land than compact ones — see how it plays out for furniture imports, where landed cost can run 60%–80% over the product price. For the complete end-to-end walkthrough, our pillar guide to importing from China to India ties every step together — or OyeExpress can run all twelve for you, door to door.
Frequently asked questions
What documents are required to import goods from China to India?
The core set is your IEC certificate, commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading or airway bill, insurance certificate and certificate of origin. Depending on the product you may also need BIS registration (electronics), FSSAI (food) or WPC/ETA (wireless devices). Your customs broker files these with the Bill of Entry on ICEGATE.
Do I need an IEC to import from China to India?
Yes. An Import Export Code (IEC) from DGFT is mandatory for any commercial import — no consignment clears customs without it. It’s a one-time online registration linked to your PAN, and you should also register for GST so you can reclaim the IGST paid at customs.
How long does it take to import goods from China to India?
By sea, expect roughly 15–35 days in transit plus a few days for customs clearance; by air, 3–8 days plus clearance. Timelines stretch when paperwork isn’t ready or an HSN/duty query arises, which is why having documents in order before the vessel arrives is critical.
What is the cheapest way to import goods from China to India?
Source at factory prices (1688.com via an agent, or manufacturers on Alibaba), ship by sea — LCL for small loads, FCL once you approach a full container — and register for GST so IGST is recoverable. For regular volume, importing directly rather than through a marketplace gives the lowest landed cost.
Can one agent handle the whole import for me?
Yes. A door-to-door import partner can run every step — supplier sourcing, quality inspection, freight, insurance, customs clearance and last-mile delivery — under one roof, which is what most businesses move to once importing becomes regular. It removes the coordination risk between separate suppliers, forwarders and brokers.
Turn importing into a system, not a gamble
Importing goods from China to India isn’t complicated once it’s a checklist: get your IEC and GST, nail the HSN code, vet the supplier and get samples, ship FOB with insurance, clear on ICEGATE with a good CHA, and reconcile every landed cost. Run those 12 steps in order and each import gets cheaper, faster and more predictable than the last.
Want the whole 12-step process handled for you? OyeExpress runs door-to-door imports from China — sourcing, quality checks, freight, duty calculation and customs clearance under one partner — so you get an accurate landed cost before you commit and cargo that doesn’t sit at the port. Talk to us about your next import from China.
