Free tools

Free tools for importing from China to the UK

HMRC monthly exchange rates and history

Calculators and checkers for the questions that come up before an order: what it will cost to land, whether anti-dumping duty or a compliance regime applies, how to ship it, and when to order around Chinese New Year. Free, no account, nothing to install.

UK–China Import Pulse: Data · Updated quarterly →

China to UK landed prices: dated worked examples from real quotes →

Supplier name screening

Check a supplier’s English or Chinese name against the UK Sanctions List, CN/HK entities on the US Consolidated Screening List and the UFLPA Entity List.

EORI Number Check: GB Checker and Application

An EORI number identifies a business for customs. Use this EORI number check for GB numbers against HMRC’s register, or follow the official checker and application links below. A valid EORI does not verify a supplier’s reliability.

China supplier quote and payment-terms checker

A Chinese factory sent a pro forma for three embroidery machines and wants 60% now, then 40% before loading: is this safe? Check what you would pay before you have evidence, and what to ask the supplier for before paying.

Import Duty Calculator UK: Import Tax from China

Import duty = customs value × the applicable duty rate for an ad valorem tariff. Import VAT uses a separate tax base including duty. Enter shipment costs below to estimate total import tax and landed cost; verify the commodity code and any additional measures in the official UK Trade Tariff.

Customs Value Builder (official HMRC rate)

Duty is charged on the customs value, not the invoice. Build it up correctly — including the tooling most importers forget — and convert it at the rate HMRC actually uses.

UK Anti-Dumping Duty Checker (China origin)

Anti-dumping duty is charged on top of normal duty and can be many times larger. Check whether a measure applies to your product before you commit to an order.

UK Compliance Requirements Finder

Pick what you are importing and see which UK regimes attach to it, what to demand from the factory, and where to read the detail.

Sea vs air freight calculator

Air always looks dearer on the freight quote. This counts what the slower sea route costs while your goods are on the water — money tied up in stock, sales lost while the shelf is empty, and the duty charged on the freight itself.

CBM Calculator: shipping volume from China

CBM = length × width × height in metres × number of cartons. Enter carton dimensions below to calculate shipping volume from China and estimate space in a 20ft, 40ft or high cube container.

Carton load calculator: cartons per pallet and container

Enter one carton size to see how many cartons fit on a Euro or UK pallet and in a 20ft, 40ft or 40ft high cube container, checked against the container's maximum payload. A {l} × {w} × {h} cm carton of {kg} kg, kept upright, fits {c20} to a 20ft, {c40} to a 40ft and {c40hc} to a 40ft high cube.

Chargeable weight calculator for air freight (volumetric weight)

Air freight is charged on the higher of the gross weight and the volume weight: length × width × height in cm ÷ 6,000, under the IATA rules airlines rate cargo by. Two cartons of {l} × {w} × {h} cm weighing {gross} kg together have a volume weight of {vol} kg, so the chargeable weight is {cw} kg.

Incoterms Chart: 2020 Costs and Risk Compared

Incoterms 2020 allocate delivery costs and risk between buyer and seller. Compare who pays freight, import duty and VAT under EXW, FOB, CIF, DDP and the other rules; the party paying freight does not always carry transit risk.

Incoterms Price Converter: EXW, FOB, CIF and DDP

Compare EXW, FOB, CIF and DDP on the same shipment basis using only costs you enter. Start with any of these quoted terms; the calculator removes costs already included, then adds each component once. DDP here includes import VAT.

Chinese New Year 2027 Production & Shipping Planner

Chinese factories close for far longer than the public holiday: most wind down by about 30 January 2027, the statutory holiday starts on New Year's Eve, 5 February 2027 (the State Council sets the full dates later in the year), and full capacity usually returns only in early March. Enter the date you need stock in the UK and this works backwards to the day you have to place the order.

China order lead-time planner: sample to UK delivery

Enter the date you place the order and the factory's quoted sample and production times to get the sample date, the ship date and the arrival date, with China's public holidays and the Chinese New Year shutdown left out of the factory days. An order placed on {order} with a {sample}-day sample and {production}-day production run ships on {departs} and arrives about {arrives} by sea, {total} days in all.

Import VAT Calculator UK: Goods from China

Import VAT = VAT rate × (customs value + duty and other import charges excluding VAT + incidental costs not already included). Use the rate for your goods and include transport to any further destination known at import. Enter your costs below.

China export rebate price-impact calculator

Estimate how a rebate cut could affect a production exporter's cost under the exemption–credit–refund method (免抵退). The currency is a display label only: no FX conversion is performed.

HMRC Exchange Rate Converter for China Supplier Quotes

Convert a supplier quote in US dollars, euros or Chinese yuan into pounds at HMRC's official monthly exchange rate, the rate used to value goods for UK customs duty and import VAT. The rates are HMRC's own, taken from the UK Trade Tariff.

Low Value Import Checker: Samples and Parcels from China

Which UK charges apply to a sample or small parcel from China. For goods worth £135 or less there is no Customs Duty, but VAT is still due, usually charged by the seller or marketplace when you buy. Gifts worth £39 or less pay nothing. Check your own parcel below.

China vs UK price comparison: landed cost per unit

A China factory price only beats a UK wholesale price once freight, customs duty and, if you are not VAT-registered, import VAT are added. Enter the factory quote, your own freight cost, the duty rate and the UK price to see the landed cost per unit, the saving, and the quantity at which the freight is spread thinly enough for China to come out cheaper.

Resale margin calculator for online sellers

Work out what you keep from each sale of stock bought from China. Enter your landed cost, your selling price, your marketplace or payment fees, postage, other costs and the share of sales you expect to refund, and say whether you are VAT-registered. The calculator shows the profit per unit, the margin, the return on the landed cost and the lowest price at which a sale breaks even.

First-order cash and reorder planner

See when the money for a first order from China leaves your account and when you need to order again. Enter your order value, the deposit your supplier asks for, the production and shipping times, the costs due on arrival and how fast you expect to sell. The planner shows each payment by day, the most cash you need before the first sale and the latest day to place a reorder.

Product cost benchmark: what you pay now against China

For brands, retailers and wholesalers already buying a range of products in the UK. List up to ten products with the units you buy in a year, the unit cost you pay now and a China landed cost for the same product. The benchmark shows the saving or extra cost per unit and per year for each product, the totals across the range and, if you enter one-off costs such as moulds and samples, how many months the saving takes to pay them back.

Supplier onboarding checklist for procurement teams

For procurement, compliance and finance teams setting up Cambridge China Bridge as a supplier and approving the Chinese factories it proposes. Tick each check as it is done. Progress shows for each group and overall, and the summary lists what is ticked and what is still open, ready to copy into your onboarding record or print.

China supplier ID checker: Unified Social Credit Code

Every Chinese company has an 18-character Unified Social Credit Code (统一社会信用代码) printed on its business licence. Paste it here to check it against the national standard, GB 32100-2015, and to read the registering authority, entity type and province it encodes. A valid code is the first check; next, confirm the company on GSXT with the checklist below.

AQL calculator and AQL table (ISO 2859-1 / ANSI/ASQ Z1.4)

For a lot of 3,200 units at general inspection level II and AQL 2.5, the standard tables give code letter K: inspect 125 units, accept the lot with 7 or fewer defectives, reject it at 8. The tables below are single sampling plans for normal inspection, levels I, II and III, for AQL 0.65 to 6.5.

UK product label checklist to send your China factory

What has to be printed on the product, its packaging or the documents before goods from China can be sold in Great Britain, for six common product types. Every line cites the GOV.UK guidance or the regulation on legislation.gov.uk it comes from. Pick a category, copy the list and send it to the factory with your artwork brief.

Packaging EPR and Plastic Packaging Tax checker for importers

If you import packaged goods from China, you can be the UK producer for packaging EPR and the importer liable for Plastic Packaging Tax. EPR applies when turnover is more than £1 million and packaging more than 25 tonnes a year; Plastic Packaging Tax registration starts at 10 tonnes of plastic packaging in 12 months, and the tax is £228.82 a tonne from 1 April 2026.

China holidays 2027: CNY and May Day Calendar

Chinese New Year 2027 is Saturday 6 February. The official 2027 China holiday and make-up working-day schedule is pending; statutory days below are not a confirmed full break. Compare the confirmed 2026 calendar and plan production and shipping.

Monthly email

One email at the start of each month. Every figure has an official source.

Next month's HMRC customs exchange rates: USD, EUR, CNY
Duty, anti-dumping and UK rule changes, with the date they apply
Chinese New Year order deadlines, before they pass