Sea freight transit times from China: what to actually expect
Ocean freight is the cheapest way to move goods from China, and the slowest. The number your forwarder quotes is port-to-port sailing time — the real door-to-door figure is longer once you add origin handling, customs, and delivery. Planning on the wrong one is how importers run out of stock.
How long does sea freight from China take?
Typical port-to-port sailing times:
- China to US West Coast: about 14 to 20 days
- China to US East Coast: about 28 to 40 days (via Panama)
- China to North Europe: about 30 to 40 days
- China to Mediterranean: about 25 to 35 days
- China to Australia: about 14 to 25 days
These are sailing times only. They move with season, carrier, and routing, and a single missed connection can add a week.
What's the difference between port-to-port and door-to-door?
Port-to-port is the ship leaving origin port and arriving at destination port. Door-to-door adds the parts that surround it:
- Origin: booking, cargo to port, loading — often 5 to 10 days before the vessel sails
- Destination: unloading, customs clearance, and final delivery — another 3 to 10 days
So a "30-day" sailing is realistically 40 to 50 days door to door. For LCL shipments, add a few more days for consolidation and deconsolidation at each end.
Why do transit times vary so much?
Port congestion, weather, carrier schedule changes, transshipment at a hub port, and customs holds all stretch the timeline. Chinese New Year and peak season compress capacity and push times out further. Treat the quoted figure as a best case, not a promise.
How much buffer should I plan?
Add a working buffer of 7 to 14 days on top of the quoted door-to-door time for any inventory you can't afford to run out of. Pair that with proper safety stock and lead-time planning so a delayed sailing doesn't become an empty shelf. If speed matters more than cost on a particular order, compare against air freight for that shipment only.
Get timing and cost in one view
The honest answer to "how long will it take" is always a range, and it's tied to the lane. Check your specific route on our freight lane pages, or run the shipment through the estimator to see indicative cost alongside the mode — so you can plan stock and budget from the same number.