Shipping from China to Malaysia

Fast & Affordable Shipping From China To Malaysia (2025)

Integrated circuits, telephones, office machinery parts, refined petroleum, and computers have been Malaysia’s major imports from China until now. Because you can get every category of product at relatively reasonable rates from the Chinese bulk market.

If you’re looking to establish a business in Malaysia and source from China, we’ve compiled all the essential information for shipping from China to Malaysia.

6-Step Process For Shipping From China To Malaysia

Here is your complete guide for importing your products to Malaysia from China.

1. Prepare Your Shipment

For sourcing from China, you need to assemble your consignment in the first place. To fulfill this purpose, once the manufacturing has been completed, standard packaging with sturdy material is required. 

Therefore, every piece of the product must be packaged in standard-sized boxes. In this way, while shipping in a plane or ship, your packages do not take up additional space and ultimately you have to pay fewer shipping charges.

After that, labeling with sellers’ and buyers’ information is necessary for shipping from China to Malaysia. In addition, instructions for harmful and fragile products must be mentioned on the packaging boxes. It will assist the laborers who will do the loading and unloading of your goods. 

2. Transport To Chinese Port

Once your consignment is fully ready, you are needed to carry it from your manufacturer’s store to the seaport or airport of China. You can simply ask your manufacturer for this purpose, or hire a freight forwarder or local carrier. On top of that, your incoterm agreement will decide who will do this task.

3. Handling Chinese Customs Authorities 

It’s time to deal with the customs authority of the Chinese exporting site when your shipment reaches there. Because the customs officer first checks your products to ensure they are either restricted, prohibited, or allowed in Malaysia. Therefore, you have to select your product wisely.

Furthermore, you have to submit some necessary documents. These documents contain all the information about products, important permits, and commercial receipts. You also have to clear taxes at this point.

4. Shipping & Tracking

After declaring your taxes and submitting the required documents, you can now start shipping your consignment to Malaysia. If you’re concerned about the whereabouts of your products after a few days, you can track them. 

Your shipping agent gives you a tracking number. You have to put it in the dedicated track box on their tracking page through which you can check the current location of your shipment.

5. Import Clearance At Malaysian Port

When your inventory reaches the seaport or airport of Malaysia, it has to pass through the customs department there. They will inspect your items and require import permits and other documents. Moreover, you also need to pay import taxes in order to gain entrance for your products in Malaysia. 

6. Delivery At Your Place

Now you can carry your cargo to wherever you want in Malaysia. It can be your general store, your warehouse, or some other place. If you are doing Amazon FBA, your cargo destination will be their warehouse. 

You don’t need to do all these steps by yourself. You can hire a shipping company like Bansarship China to do everything for you. We can not only do port-to-port shipping but also door-to-door shipping.

It means we will pick up your items from the product suppliers’ door in China and deliver them to your door in Malaysia. Also, dealing with the customs of both countries is our duty. You don’t need to get involved in it.

Required Documents For Shipping From China to Malaysia

You have to submit the following documents to Chinese and Malaysian customs for importing your goods.

• Packing list
• Commercial invoice
• Insurance certificate (if the cargo is insured)
• Catalog or leaflet
• Fare payment proof
• Bill of lading
• Delivery letter
• Letter of credit 
• Export/Import licenses
• Special permit for restricted items
• Declaration form

Malaysian Import Taxes & Duties

You don’t have to pay import taxes to the customs at the Malaysian port unless the value of your goods reaches MYR 500. The value of goods depends on their purchasing cost, freight charges, and insurance fees. It is the minimum threshold for importing cargo to this country.

Otherwise, if the limit is exceeded, you have to pay sales and service tax (SST) which is 5% to 10% of your goods. In addition, the income and import duties also apply to your Malaysian imports. It ranges from zero to 25% of the value of your cargo. The exact amount depends on the HS classification of products.

• Import duties are 0 to 10% for your furniture imports.
• For toys and agriculture products, you have to pay 0 to 5% duties.
• 5 to 25% of duties are applied on plastics imports.
• For your textile imports, these duties are 5 to 20% of your goods.

Methods To Ship From China To Malaysia

The following methods are used for transporting your inventory from China to Malaysia. You can select one method with respect to your timeline and budget.

1. Ocean Shipping – Cost Effective

Shipping your goods by sea to Malaysia is the cheapest available option. If you want to save your money for the purpose of other investments in your business, sea freight is the right option for you. You can transport anything including petroleum, minerals, electronics, vehicles, heavy machinery, and much more. 

However, if you think that your shipment is small for ocean freight, we have a solution in the form of LCL. Through this mode, you can transport cargo ranging in size from 1 to 15 CBM, but not greater than that. For larger shipments than this range, Full Container Load (FCL) is available for you. 

If you choose FCL, you need to know that there are different types and sizes of containers. The mostly used ones are 20 and 40-foot containers for shipping from China to Malaysia. However, for greater goods like construction equipment, buses, or pipes that do not fit into those, Bansar provides out-of-gauge (OOG) containers.

We ensure that you don’t have to pass through any type of hurdle while shipping for your business.

2. Air Freight – Expensive Option

You can use air freight for transporting items to Malaysia if your consignment reaches up to 300 kg. This is the limitation imposed by Chinese and Malaysian airlines for exporting and importing goods between these countries. Although, there are some variations in weight limits for some air routes.

This method is primarily used for fragile and time-dependent items like jewelry and perishable products, respectively.

3. Expedited Delivery – Urgent Needs

For urgently needed items or last-minute orders, choosing expedited shipping is preferable over air freight. Because it is the fastest way of importing cargo from China to Malaysia. But the important thing is it’s the most expensive way of shipping. However, the rates become lower as the cargo weight increases.

Major Seaports & Airports For China-Malaysia Trade

The following are the primary seaports and airports for importing from China to Malaysia.

Seaports of China

• The Port of Qingdao is located on the Yellow Sea and is among the 10 busiest ports in the world. It has four port regions named as Qianwan, Dongjiakou, Huangdong oil port zone, and Dagang.
• The Port of Dalian is mainly used as a multipurpose port. It is located in the northeast region of the country and serves the Pacific region, east, and north Asia.
• The Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan consists of 191 berths and is connected to the ports of over 90 countries. It is located at the shoreline of the East China Sea.

Additionally, there are some other ports used for exporting goods to Malaysia.

• Port of Shanghai
• Port of Hong Kong
• Port of Tianjin
• Port of Shenzhen

Seaports of Malaysia

• Port Klang is the largest port of Malaysia. It is present in Selangor state on the western shoreline of Peninsular Malaysia.
• The Port of Tanjung Pelepas is mainly used for importing and exporting containers. On a yearly basis, it deals with approximately more than 11 million TEUs.
• Kuantan Port consists of 19 berths, handling all types of goods, and therefore serves as a multipurpose port. It lies on the eastern coast of Peninsular Malaysia.

Furthermore, there are some other seaports used for importing goods from China.

• Port of Johor
• Port of Bintulu
• Port of George Town
• Port of Labuan
• Port of Bakapin
• Port of Penang
• Port of Kuala Lumpur

International Airports of China

• Zhengzhou Xinzheng Airport
• Chengdu Shuangliu Airport
• Beijing Capital Airport
• Shanghai Hongqiao Airport
• Shenzhen Bao’an Airport
• Nanjing Lukou Airport
• Guangzhou Airport
• Beijing Daxing Airport
• Kunming Changshui Airport
• Shanghai Pudong Airport

International Airports of Malaysia

• Kota Kinabalu Airport
• Penang Airport
• Kuala Lumpur Airport
• Senai Airport
• Kuching Airport
• Langkawi Airport

How Long Does It Take For Shipping From China To Malaysia?

The transit time between China and Malaysia depends on the shipping type, the Chinese leaving port, and the Malaysian entrance port. Moreover, some other factors like abrupt weather changes, national holidays (in both countries), terminal congestion, and some major political events also play their role in deciding the shipping duration.

By keeping in mind all these things, we have enlisted an estimated timeframe for your reference.

On top of that, we have also compiled data for transportation time between different seaports of Malaysia and China.

Shipping Cost From China To Malaysia

The price for importing your goods from China to Malaysia varies across different modes of shipping. Moreover, it decreases as the load of shipment increases. It means that you can easily transport your heavy cargo at reasonable prices.

Air Freight Shipping Cost

Ocean Freight Shipping Cost

The shipping charges through the ocean freight change from port to port. Given below is the price range for different ocean shipping modes.

Express Shipping Cost

Shipping Incoterms For Importing To Malaysia

Incoterms are also known as International Commercial Terms. These are the contract terms that specify the tasks of the freight forwarder or seller and buyer in the shipping process. It is basically the type of service that decides who will do the paperwork, handle customs, and other shipping requirements. There are 11 incoterms, named as:

• Free Carrier (FCA)
• Cost, Insurance, and Freight (CIF)
• Delivered at Place (DAP)
• Cost and Freight (CFR)
• Ex Works (EXW)
• Delivered Duty Paid (DDP)
• Free on Board (FOB)
• Delivered at Terminal (DAT)
• Free Alongside (FAS)
• Carriage and Insurance Paid To (CIP)
• Carriage Paid To (CPT)

However, the most commonly used incoterms for shipping from China to Malaysia are:

1. Cost, Insurance, and Freight (CIF)

Under CIF, your seller will pay for shipping costs, will insure your products, and clear the freight charges. He or she is responsible for transporting your shipment from China to the port of Malaysia. After that, your duty starts from unloading to delivering your goods at your place.

2. Ex Works (EXW)

On agreeing upon EXW, you have to pay the least cost for your products. Because your seller will only prepare your shipment and you need to collect it from their factory in China. Subsequently, you as a buyer from Malaysia have to pass through all the shipping steps. But at this point, you can hire a freight forwarder like Bansar to fulfill your shipping needs. 

3. Delivered at Place (DAP)

The seller will deliver your goods at the named place of the buyer. It means that the seller will bear all the transportation costs and manage freight until the products reach the agreed location from you.

Prohibited & Restricted Malaysian Imports

The following items are prohibited from being imported into Malaysia. On the other hand, some products are restricted and need special permits for their imports from respected authorities.

Prohibited Items

• Harmful chemicals like sodium arsenate and radioactive elements
• Illegal drugs including morphine, marijuana, candu, and heroin
• Counterfeit currency
• Pornographic related things
• Alcohols
• Animal products specifically eggs of turtles and piranha fishes
• Certain fruits including cocoa pods, rambutan, nam nam, and longan
• Sharp items like knives, blades, daggers, and syringes
• Pen and pencil
• Clothes featuring Quranic verses
• Radio receivers with a range of 68 to 67 MHz and 108 to 174 MHz

Restricted Products

• Alive animals and their products
• Plants and plants-based items
• Toy pistols and guns 
• Replica weapons
• Safety vests and helmets
• Fireworks
• Pharmaceutical products
• Batik sarong
• Rubber products
• Home brewing equipment
• Telecommunication devices

You can import the following tobacco-related products with their import permits as given:

• Clove or White Cigarettes (Lampiran A form)
• Snuff, Tobacco, Cigar, and Beedies (Lampiran A1 form)
• Liquor (Lampiran A2 form)

Final Note

With Bansar’s shipping services, your shipment is in safe hands and will reach your Malaysian location securely from any point in China. We offer a full range of options, including express shipping, customs clearance, free warehousing, and door-to-door delivery. Drop us a line and let us make your shipping experience effortless.