Every term you'll meet trading with China.

Seller delivers and clears goods for export at a named port; buyer assumes risk and cost from the ship's rail onward. Most common Incoterm for China exports.

Seller covers cost of goods, marine insurance, and freight to the destination port. Risk still passes at origin port; useful when buyer wants visibility on landed shipping cost.

Same as CIF without insurance. Risk transfers at origin port; buyer must arrange marine insurance.

Seller covers everything to the buyer's door including import duties and taxes. Highest seller liability — but easiest for the buyer.

Seller covers delivery to a named place (warehouse, factory) in buyer's country; buyer handles import customs and taxes.

Seller makes goods available at their premises. Buyer arranges everything from there — export clearance, freight, insurance, import.

Bank-guaranteed payment instrument. Seller is paid when they present specified shipping documents to the bank. Reduces counterparty risk for both parties.

Standard SWIFT wire transfer. Common Chinese trade structure is 30% T/T deposit and 70% T/T against B/L copy after pre-shipment inspection.

Negotiable shipping document issued by the carrier. Original B/L is required to take possession of the cargo at destination port.

Shipment that fills an entire 20', 40', or 40'HC container. Lower per-unit cost than LCL and faster customs at destination.

Consolidated shipment sharing a container with other cargo. Right for orders below ~15 CBM.

Cubic meters — volume metric for freight pricing. 1 standard 40' container = ~58–60 CBM usable.

Internationally standardised 6–10 digit code that classifies a product for customs. Determines duty rate and licence requirements.

Punitive duty on goods sold below "fair value" — affects categories like steel, solar, ceramics. Always check current ADD for your HS code and origin.

Administration for Industry & Commerce — Chinese business registration body. Now part of the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR).

Chinese exporters can reclaim a portion of paid VAT (typically 9–13%) on goods exported abroad. A meaningful component of FOB pricing.

Acceptance Quality Limit — the maximum % of defective units in a sample considered acceptable. AQL 2.5 is the global default for general merchandise pre-shipment inspections.

Third-party or buyer's QC inspection at the factory before final payment is released. Photo/video report with quantified findings.

QC inspection at 30–50% production progress to catch issues early. Recommended for orders > USD 20k or tight lead times.

A limited-liability company in China owned 100% by foreign capital. Allows direct hiring, RMB invoicing, and own customs code.

A non-trading liaison office — useful for market presence but cannot invoice in RMB or sign sales contracts. Largely superseded by WFOE.

Designated zones (Shanghai Lingang, Shenzhen Qianhai, Hainan) with relaxed regulations and bonded warehousing. Makehe is registered in Shanghai Lingang FTZ.