Shipping from China to Australia

Routes and transit times

Australia is one of the shorter long-haul lanes out of China. Ships for the east coast leave the East China Sea, cross the Philippine Sea, pass New Guinea through the Vitiaz Strait and the Jomard Passage, and run down the Coral Sea to Brisbane and Sydney (Port Botany), with Melbourne a day further round. Fremantle, on the west coast, is reached through the Indonesian straits and is the closest Australian port to South China.

Most services call at several Australian ports in rotation, so Melbourne cargo on a Sydney-first service arrives a few days later than the sailing distance suggests. Door to door, plan on about three to five weeks by sea, roughly a week by airfreight and two to five working days by express courier. Drewry does not publish a China–Australia lane, so enter your forwarder's rate in the calculator.

Australian import rules

• Duty under ChAFTA. The China–Australia Free Trade Agreement has removed duty on most goods of Chinese origin. To claim it you need proof of origin, usually a certificate of origin from the supplier. Without it, the general rate (often 5 %) applies. Australian duty is charged on the FOB value.
• GST. 10 % GST is charged on the value of the taxable importation: customs value plus duty plus the international transport and insurance. Registered businesses can defer it to their business activity statement under the deferred GST scheme.
• The A$1,000 threshold. Consignments over A$1,000 need a full import declaration. For goods of A$1,000 or less sold to consumers, GST is collected at the point of sale by overseas sellers and marketplaces registered for GST, and no duty is charged at the border.
• Biosecurity. Every import must be free of soil, insects and seeds. Wooden packaging must be ISPM 15 treated and marked, and the importer needs a packing declaration. During the brown marmorated stink bug season (goods shipped 1 September to 30 April; the current season ends 30 April 2027) the Department of Agriculture applies extra measures to certain goods from target risk countries; China is listed as an emerging risk country: goods shipped from China in season may be picked for random onshore inspection, and for emerging risk countries that covers plastics, furniture and toys (tariff chapters 39, 94 and 95) as well as the target high-risk goods such as wood, stone, ceramics, glass, metals and machinery. Ro-Ro vessels that called in China also face heightened surveillance.

Mistakes on China–Australia shipments

• No certificate of origin. Paying 5 % duty that ChAFTA would have removed is the most common avoidable cost on this lane.
• Untreated timber. Pallets, crates and dunnage without an ISPM 15 stamp get fumigated or destroyed at your expense, and the container waits.
• Dirty containers. Soil or plant material on the box itself triggers cleaning and inspection fees.
• Assuming port-to-port equals door-to-door. Biosecurity holds, quarantine inspections and wharf congestion in Sydney and Melbourne can add days; budget for container detention if your truck booking slips.