China to the UK is the one corridor where a sender is likely to meet all three products in this record in a single decision. A parcel goes on a published price, air freight is quoted on chargeable weight, and sea freight is quoted by the container or the cubic metre. They are not three speeds of the same thing: they have different price bases, different paperwork and different failure modes, and picking the wrong one is usually a volume mistake rather than a speed one.
The published parcel price, which is where most people start
Parcel2Go's own China page prices five services and the cheapest is £10.99 on Evri Standard Parcelshop, read on 10 September 2026. That is carriage for the parcel the page quotes by default. It is the only published China figure anywhere in this record, because Royal Mail publishes international zones rather than country prices and Parcelforce's China directory page carries service and customs detail and no price at all.
Where air freight takes over
Above the parcel bands, which end at 20kg for Royal Mail and 30kg on Parcelforce's published ladder, the corridor becomes air freight priced on chargeable weight: the greater of what the shipment weighs and what its volume implies. For goods that are dense and valuable, that is usually the right answer, and it is why electronics and spare parts move this way while furniture does not.
Where sea freight takes over from that
Sea freight is quoted by the container or by the cubic metre of a shared one, so it is the cheapest way to move volume and the slowest by a wide margin. The sailing is the smallest part of the wait: add the cut-off, the time a shared container takes to fill, customs at both ends and the inland legs. A plan that treats the quoted transit as the whole timeline is the most common way a first sea shipment misses its date.
The customs half, which is the same on all three
Whatever the mode, the goods arrive at a UK border and meet duty and import VAT on the value plus the shipping, collected by the carrier with a handling fee on top. The commodity code decides the duty and it is your responsibility even when the supplier wrote it on the invoice. A vague description on that invoice is the single most common reason a China consignment is held.
Questions people ask about shipping from china to uk
How much is shipping from China to the UK?
For a parcel, Parcel2Go publishes £10.99 on its own China page, the cheapest of five services it prices there, read on 10 September 2026. Above the parcel bands it becomes air or sea freight, quoted per shipment rather than published.
Is air or sea freight cheaper from China?
Sea, by a wide margin, on anything bulky. Air is priced on chargeable weight and sea by volume, so the crossover depends on how dense your goods are rather than on a fixed weight.
How long does shipping from China to the UK take?
The quoted transit is the smallest part of it. On sea freight, add the sailing cut-off, the wait for a shared container to fill, customs at both ends and the inland legs at each side.
Who pays the duty on goods from China?
Whoever the delivery terms name. On anything other than delivered duty paid, the UK recipient is asked for duty and import VAT before release, plus the carrier's handling fee.