Imports Oriental Blog

Danny Coyle

Things I Wish I’d Known as a First Time China Exporter

As a new exporter from China, you may not be ready to get your own export license. Not to worry. This is common and there are other methods of exporting goods. Of course, when we first started our export business, I didn’t know most of those things. Had I known then what I know now, we would have run into far fewer problems.

The following is not an exhaustive list of things to look for. Rather, it is the list of things I wish I had known when setting out for the first time.

1) Get a good freight forwarder.

There are 3^rd party exporters who will export your goods for you, for a fee.  This fee can range from RMB 700-1500, or a percentage of the goods’ export value. These freight forwarders can be a great resource for growing in your professional export knowledge.

2) There are 3 documents that get most goods out of the country.

1. 形式发票(xing shi fa piao) – Pro Forma Invoice
2. 核销单 (he xiao dan) – Verification Form
3. 报关单 (bao guan dan) – Customs Declaration Form

All good freight forwarders know these documents well and can assist in preparing them correctly. A previous post on Chinese Export Documents gives more detailed information on dealing with these documents.

3) Other documents can be required by the customer.

Sometimes a customer may require other documents in addition to the three mentioned above (Certificate of Origin, Materials Testing Certificates, etc). It is important to clarify well in advance what documents you are expected to provide. Make sure that you understand the costs associated with these documents—as well as the time needed to obtain them—before proceeding with the order. This has haunted us from time to time.

4) Goods may be subject to inspection (商检- shang jian).

The shang jian is costly and time consuming, so make sure that you know if your items need this before sending the goods to port. Requirements vary by port, so it is important to do your research. An item we regularly export is polyester blouses. These items are subject to inspection at the Shanghai port but, strangely, not at the Tianjin port. It is possible to export your goods without the shang jian by paying under the table fees—however, this is definitely not recommended.

5) It is important to book the right amount of cargo space at the right time.

During most of the year, you can book space on cargo vessels well in advance. Before Chinese New Year, however, space becomes available to small exporters like us only one month in advance. Frequent phone calls to your freight forwarder will help you get cargo space if you are shipping around the Chinese New Year holiday

Air cargo is another tricky one. Sometimes space is available, sometimes it is not.  Make sure that you allow enough time for communication with the air freight forwarder when it comes time to make the booking. When booking air freight, the estimate of the number of cartons and weight is critical. If you get it wrong, they may charge you for the wasted space on the airplane. (We have had to pay major fees for miscalculating the number of cartons in the past, so be warned.)

Great websites that help with these issues:

• General Import/Export information
• HTS codes and Duty rates for USA

Tanya Crossman

Exporting from any country means dealing with a lot of paperwork – which may or may not be in a language you understand. Local assistance is essential for most exporters. Even if you hire a logistics company that actually handles filling in and submitting the forms, it is helpful to understand these documents yourself. These forms are legal requirements and you will need to provide all manner of detailed information to the party doing the paperwork for you.

The goal of this post is to provide you with a quick reference for some of the documents and terms you will come across regularly when engaging in export from China. We have included a brief description of some important documents and pictures of what the official forms look like. At the bottom of the post is a list of commonly used export-related terms in both Chinese and English.

There are three main documents you will need to submit when you export goods from China.

1. 形式发票(xing shi fa piao) – Pro Forma Invoice
2. 核销单 (he xiao dan) – Verification Form
3. 报关单 (bao guan dan) – Customs Declaration Form

1 – 形式发票(xing shi fa piao) – Pro Forma Invoice

There are many ways to write a Pro Forma Invoice. There isn’t a single standard you have to follow when creating a Pro Forma for customs purposes. The most important thing is that the information is clearly presented, which may mean taking into account the languages spoken at both the port of departure and the port of arrival. Our standard export Pro Forma Invoice filed in China is labeled in both English and Mandarin (in simplified Chinese characters).

2 – 核销单 (he xiao dan) – Verification Form

The full name for this form is出口收汇核销单 (chu kou shou hui he xiao dan), or Export Exchange Earnings Verification Form. The he xiao dan concerns currency exchange and the taxation of export transactions. The left hand column is retained by the export company.

核销单 (he xiao dan) – Verification Form

3 – 报关单 (bao guan dan) – Customs Declaration Form

The document’s full name is 中华人民共和国海关出口货物报关单 (zhong hua ren min gong he guo hai guan chu kou huo wu bao guan dan) or the People’s Republic of China Customs Export Goods Declaration Form. There are large overlaps between the information on this form and the information on the Pro Forma Invoice.

报关单 (bao guan dan) – Customs Declaration Form

Chinese Export Vocabulary

Another hint: learn some Chinese vocabulary specifically relating to export. This will help you to read forms faster and communicate more effectively with agents and agencies assisting your company.