If you’re looking to import and ship goods from China to Germany, you’ll need a reliable freight forwarder to help you handle the complex logistics. From customs clearance to shipping, a good freight forwarder can make the entire process easy and hassle-free. In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know in order to find the right freight forwarder and ensure a smooth shipping experience.

What is a freight forwarder from China to Germany?

A freight forwarder from China to Germany refers to a professional service provider that assists customers in transporting goods from China to Germany in international logistics. These forwarding companies ensure the smooth delivery of goods by coordinating transportation methods, handling relevant documents, and providing customs clearance services.

Why choose a freight forwarder from China to Germany?

Freight forwarders from China to Germany simplify the shipping process by providing the following services:

• Customs clearance: manage documentation and compliance, ensuring smooth customs formalities in China and Germany.
• Logistics coordination: organize multimodal transport, including sea, air and rail freight.
• Cost management: ensure competitive prices for transportation and optimize supply chain efficiency.
• Warehousing and distribution: provide storage solutions and last-mile delivery.

How to choose a freight forwarder

Choosing the right freight forwarder is crucial to successfully transporting goods. Here are the key factors to consider when making this important decision.

Qualifications and expertise

A qualified freight forwarder should have extensive knowledge and experience in how to transport goods. They must be well-versed in international regulations and have a good record of successfully managing goods. This expertise ensures that your goods are handled with the most care and compliance, thereby minimizing the risks associated with transportation.

Service scope and network coverage

The right freight forwarder should provide a comprehensive range of services to meet your specific needs. This includes not only transportation, but also customs clearance, warehousing and insurance services. In addition, a strong global network of partners and agents is essential to ensure efficient transportation and timely delivery.

Safety Record and Reputation

When choosing a freight forwarder, it is important to investigate their safety record and industry reputation. Reviews and testimonials from past clients can provide insight into their reliability and professionalism.

We at Basenton provide highly professional, cost-effective, high-quality, one-stop international logistics services to traders around the world. Our expertise in transporting goods, comprehensive service offerings, and commitment to safety make us an ideal partner for your shipping needs. Choose our services to ensure your goods are transported safely and efficiently.

Learn more: How to Choose the Right China Freight Forwarder

Best Freight Forwarder from China to Germany

Choosing a Freight Forwarder: Choose a reputable freight forwarder with experience in shipping goods to facilitate the shipping process.

Detailed Assessment: Work with the freight forwarder to assess the specific goods being shipped, including their classification, quantity, and destination.

Route Planning: Determine the most efficient and compliant shipping route, taking into account the mode of transport, potential hazards along the way, and necessary stopovers.

Packaging: Before shipment, all goods must be properly packaged and labeled, ensuring that the packaging meets international standards, such as those set by the United Nations (UN).

Customs clearance is a critical step in the cargo process and involves:

Document Preparation: Ensure that all required documents, including the Safety Data Sheet (SDS) and customs declaration, are complete and accurate.

Cooperation with Customs Authorities: The freight forwarder will liaise with the customs authorities in China and Germany to facilitate customs clearance of the goods.

Comply with Import and Export Regulations: Comply with all customs regulations to avoid delays and penalties, while ensuring that the goods meet the necessary legal requirements.

Learn more: How to Clear Customs When Shipping Imported Goods from China to Germany

Once customs clearance is completed, the goods will be shipped to their destination. This phase includes:

Mode of transport: Depending on the stage of planning, the goods can be transported by sea, air or rail.

Real-time tracking: Leverage advanced tracking systems to monitor the progress of the goods in real time, ensuring transparency and quick response to any potential issues.

Receiving inspection: Once the goods arrive, the receiver must conduct an inspection to ensure that the goods are intact and meet the recorded specifications.

How to Ship Goods from China to Germany

In recent years, the demand for transportation market has grown significantly, especially the demand for transportation from China to Germany. Germany is one of the leading economies in Europe. Efficient and reliable transportation from China to Germany is essential to ensure that the goods arrive at the destination on time and intact. The modes of transportation from China to Germany are sea, air and rail.

Learn more: DDP and DDU Shipping from China to Germany

Sea Freight from China to Germany

When you have a large amount of goods to ship from China to Germany, sea transportation is usually the first choice. This method is cost-effective, especially for heavy or large items, and provides flexible options for different types of goods. Sea transportation has the advantage of scalability, allowing companies to choose from a variety of container sizes and transportation methods to meet their specific needs.

If you need a freight forwarder, we can help you. We provide sea transportation services with a wide range of carriers and routes that can handle a variety of goods, from a single pallet to a full 40-foot container or more. It can make your goods arrive in Germany safely and quickly.

Air Freight from China to Germany

With the continuous growth of trade, the demand for efficient and safe logistics and transportation continues to increase. Especially for some urgent or high-value goods, air transport becomes the preferred mode of transportation.

We provide one-stop services such as door-to-door collection, packaging on behalf of customers, customs declaration, customs clearance, inspection, destination port cargo delivery, and collection of payment, which greatly simplifies the customer’s operation process. The goods will undergo strict security inspections and packaging during transportation to ensure the safety of the goods. The company provides cargo transportation insurance services to deal with possible accidents.
Customers can check the cargo transfer information through the website and grasp the status of cargo transportation in real time.

Rail Freight from China to Germany

Rail Freight is an excellent choice for importers to ship goods from China to Germany because the transportation time is faster than sea transportation and the cost is lower when the right conditions are met. The condition is that the goods must be loaded in containers to take advantage of rail freight, so this is not an option for anyone with an order volume of less than a container. This makes rail transportation from China ideal for bulk goods, dry goods, liquid goods, and machinery.

Both China and Germany have multiple train hubs. If you don’t need to ship goods very quickly or the cost of air freight is too high, you can consider using rail freight.

Shipping Prices from China to Germany

Air Shipping: If you need your items delivered quickly, air freight from China is a great alternative to express delivery. Shipping via an airline is faster than land or sea freight. This method is ideal for smaller, more delicate shipments that must be delivered quickly. Although it is a fast method, it is more expensive than land and sea freight.

Air freight prices from China to Germany are around $8-15 per kilogram. The best air freight prices are for shipments weighing between 300 and 500 kilograms

Sea Freight: The most common method for importers to ship goods from China to Germany is sea freight. Although it is slower than other shipping methods, it is more affordable and offers more flexibility in the types of goods you can send and the shipping routes you can use.

There are two types of shipping by sea freight. Including LCL and FCL Shipping The average price of shipping a 20-foot container from China to Germany is $3,050 to $5,550. The average price of shipping a 40-foot container from China to Germany is $4,150 to $7,850.

Rail Freight: Cheaper and more economical than express air and standard air, but more expensive than sea; ideal if you want to ship bulk goods but don’t want to wait too long like sea.

The average cost of a 40-foot container from China to Germany by rail is $6,000 to $8,000

If you want to know more: Cost of Shipping 20ft & 40ft Container from China to Germany

Shipping time from China to Germany

Air Freight mainly relies on the flight networks of major airlines to transport goods from major airports in China to major airports in Germany. Starting from major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou in China, take direct or connecting flights to Frankfurt, Germany, etc. Major cities like Munich or Hamburg. The transportation time is generally 3-6 days

Sea Freight mainly transports goods from major ports in China to major ports in Germany through sea routes. From China’s Shanghai Port, Ningbo Port, and Shenzhen Port to Germany’s Hamburg Port and Bremen Port, the transportation time is generally 25-30 days

Rail Freight is through the China-Europe Express, an important railway transportation channel between China and Europe, and transports goods from major cities in China to Germany through the railway network. The main routes are Chongqing-Duisburg Line, Zhengzhou-Hamburg Line, and Suzhou-Warsaw Line. The transportation time is generally 15-20 days

If you want to know more: How Long does a Container Ship take from China to Germany

To ship from China to Germany at the cheapest price, Basenton Freight Forwarding is the first choice. Basenton is a world-leading logistics provider with operations in many countries and a wide range of shipping services for customers. Basenton’s vast network enables it to deliver orders from China to your customers intact. We offer a variety of shipping options to reduce delivery time within Germany to 1-5 days.