FOB, CIF or DDP? Shipping terms for UK importers buying from China

When you buy from a Chinese supplier, one short code on the quote decides who pays for which part of the journey, who controls the freight and insurance, and who UK customs treats as the importer. That code is the Incoterm, and choosing the wrong one is one of the easiest ways to pay more than you planned.

For most UK importers the answer is FOB. Here’s why, and when the other terms bite.

The four terms you will see

term	who clears Chinese export	who books the sea freight	the catch
EXW (ex works)	you	you	you need a China-side agent just to clear export customs
FOB (free on board)	the supplier	you, through your forwarder	you arrange freight and insurance, which is the point
CIF (cost, insurance and freight)	the supplier	the supplier	cheap-looking freight, UK charges discovered on arrival
DDP (delivered duty paid)	the supplier	the supplier	who is really the importer?

Why FOB is the safer default

Under FOB the supplier gets the goods loaded onto the ship at a named port and files the Chinese export paperwork itself. From that point your own forwarder takes over, so you choose the carrier, see the real freight price, and buy proper insurance.

Maple Sourcing’s comparison for UK importers puts it plainly: “FOB is the safer default for most China imports, and once the China-side costs are counted it is usually the cheaper one as well.”

EXW looks cheaper on paper, but “a foreign buyer cannot clear Chinese export customs”, so you end up hiring a China-side forwarder or broker for work the supplier does routinely under FOB.

What CIF hides

CIF feels simple: the supplier quotes one price to a UK port and handles the freight and insurance. The problem is that the supplier chooses both. As FreightAmigo explains, CIF “often hides significant destination terminal handling charges” that importers only discover on arrival, and the insurance is usually the minimum cover.

In other words, the saving on the quote can come back as a bill at the UK port.

When DDP leaves you exposed

DDP promises everything done for you, duty and VAT included. The question to ask is who the UK paperwork names as the importer. According to CustomsBrokerUk, a freight forwarder does not automatically become the importer of record, and if the UK buyer ends up as importer while the seller ships DDP, the responsibilities conflict and both sides face audit exposure.

Before accepting a DDP quote, ask in writing who the importer of record is and whose EORI number goes on the customs declaration.

Shared container, full container or air?

Once you control the freight, you choose how it travels:

shipment	usually best	indicative 2026 price
under about 13–15 m³	shared container (LCL)	$45–90 per m³, plus handling
over about 15 m³	full 20ft container	$1,700–2,200
urgent, or light and valuable	air freight	$4.50–9 per kg

The prices are Exfreight’s indicative 2026 ranges, which also warns that ocean rates can move 20 to 30% within a single month. The crossover between a shared and a full container “starts to overlap around 13–15 CBM”, a rule that is useful but not absolute, so get both quotes near that size.

Time matters as much as price. With most ships still going round the Cape of Good Hope, sea freight from China to the UK takes about 45 to 50 days.

Insure the cargo

Most UK forwarders trade under the BIFA standard trading conditions. Under clause 26 of the 2025 edition, their liability for lost or damaged goods is the lesser of the goods’ value or 2 SDR per kilo of gross weight.

An SDR (the IMF’s Special Drawing Right) is worth about £1.02, so that is roughly £2 a kilo. A lost 20 kg carton of goods worth £2,000 would bring back about £41. For anything light and valuable, buy your own cargo insurance.

A checklist for your next order

1. Ask the supplier for an FOB price, naming the Chinese port.
2. Get two or three all-in quotes from forwarders: origin charges, freight, UK port charges, customs clearance and delivery.
3. Buy cargo insurance for the goods’ real value.
4. Import under your own EORI number, with the commodity code checked before you order. The free landed-cost calculator shows the duty, anti-dumping duty and VAT for a code.
5. If a supplier offers DDP, get the importer of record in writing first.

If you would rather have someone handle this for you, including the inspection before anything ships, see China sourcing and UK import support.