China ocean freight transit times by route

Port-to-port vs door-to-door

When a forwarder quotes 15–20 days, that is usually port-to-port: the time the vessel takes from the Chinese loading port to the destination port. Your real timeline is longer. Before sailing, the container must be picked up, stuffed and cleared for export, and the booking must meet the carrier's CY cutoff. After arrival, the container needs import clearance, terminal release and inland delivery before the goods reach your warehouse.

So a 15–20 day port-to-port service to the US West Coast is typically 22–30 days door-to-door once clearance and trucking are added. Always ask which of the two a schedule refers to — that single question avoids most transit-time disputes.

Reference transit times by route

The reference times below are port-to-port, vary by carrier and season, and are confirmed with every quote:

Route	Typical transit time
China → US West Coast	15–20 days
China → US East Coast	28–35 days
China → Canada West	15–20 days
China → Canada East	30–35 days
China → Mexico Pacific	20–28 days
China → Mexico Gulf	30–38 days
China → Guyana (via transhipment)	40–55 days
China → Argentina	35–45 days
China → North Europe	30–38 days
China → West Africa	35–45 days
China → South/East Africa	25–35 days
China → Southeast Asia	7–15 days
China → Australia	20–28 days

Use them for planning, not as a promise: the confirmed sailing in your quote is what counts.

What adds time to the schedule

• Peak-season space crunch. When demand outstrips capacity, carriers raise rates and sometimes roll cargo to the next sailing.
• Transhipment connections. Every transfer adds a missed-connection risk; routes via Singapore, Busan or Panama can add a week.
• Customs exams. A random or targeted exam at either end can hold a container for days.
• Port congestion. Waiting at anchorage outside a congested hub adds time with no change to the published schedule.
• Chinese New Year and Golden Week. Factories pause, pre-holiday cargo floods the vessels, and sailings book out weeks ahead — plan around both.

None of these are excuses, but they are reality: build buffer time into your delivery commitments instead of promising the pure transit number.

When ocean is too slow

When the deadline cannot move, air freight is the answer: typically 1–5 days door-to-door including clearance, at a cost per kilogram far above ocean. A hybrid plan often works best — air the urgent first batch, ocean the bulk, and keep the project on schedule without paying air rates twice. Air freight also suits samples, spare parts and product launches where the selling season will not wait.

We book both. Send us the volume, weight and deadline, and we will price air and FCL side by side so you can decide with numbers instead of guesswork. For smaller ocean volumes, our FCL vs LCL guide explains when a shared container is the smarter middle ground.

How to plan a shipment

• Book 2–3 weeks ahead in peak season. Space on popular sailings disappears early; late bookings pay peak rates or get rolled.
• The factory-ready date is the real clock. Transit time starts when the container is stuffed, not when the PO is signed. Confirm the ready date before booking a sailing.
• Respect the CY cutoff. Every sailing has a container yard cutoff, usually 1–3 days before departure. Miss it and the container rolls to the next vessel — a full week on some routes.

Share your factory-ready date and destination with us and we will propose a sailing that fits, with the cutoffs spelled out in writing. See Australia or the FAQ for route-specific notes.