Trade lane
Shipping from China to United Kingdom
Ocean freight from China to United Kingdom is a high-volume container trade lane on bexy, with 33,845 shipments on record. Median estimated transit is 45 days, measured from the loaded-on-board date to the carrier's ETA at the final place of delivery, or the last planned arrival when the carrier gives none; half of shipments were estimated at between 42 and 50 days and 90% at 59 days or less, across 3,393 shipments with a usable on-board date and estimated arrival.
- Shipments tracked
- 33,845
- Median est. transit
- 45 days
- Loading ports
- 14
- Discharge ports
- 8
Estimated transit · China → United Kingdom
45days median
- Middle half
- 42–50 days
- 90% within
- 59 days
- Shipments
- 3,393
Estimated from the loaded-on-board date to the carrier's ETA at the final place of delivery, or the last planned arrival when the carrier gives none, which can include an inland leg; spans over 120 days are left out. The middle half runs from the 25th to the 75th percentile.
Actual transit (from carrier discharge events)
55days median
Middle half 47–59 days · 90% within 60 days · n = 1,035 shipments with a recorded discharge
Loaded on board → container discharged at the port of discharge, from the carrier's container events: actual dates, not estimates. It has no inland leg, so it is not directly comparable with the estimate, and it rests on fewer shipments because most Bills of Lading are read after the container has been returned empty.
Schedule slip vs plan
+4days median · after the planned arrival
Middle half +1 to +10 days · n = 164 shipments with both a planned arrival and a recorded discharge on this lane, across 18 sailings
Per shipment, the day a container was discharged at the port of discharge minus the carrier's first planned arrival there — whole days, exact to within a day either way; negative means ahead of plan. Each shipment is measured against its own plan, so it is a plain count, not weighted by volume. A sailing is one vessel voyage: every container on a late vessel is late together, so the slip is shown only when its shipments came on at least 5 sailings.
On the 164 shipments with both a planned arrival and a recorded discharge on this lane, across 18 sailings, containers were discharged a median 4 days after the carrier's planned arrival at the port of discharge: the planned date is the carrier's plan as bexy read each Bill of Lading, and those schedules have slipped.
China to United Kingdom ocean freight
Measured from the carrier's container events instead of its estimates, the actual transit from China to United Kingdom — loaded on board to a container discharged at the port of discharge, with no inland leg — has a median of 55 days (middle half 47–59 days, 90% within 60 days) across 1,035 shipments with a recorded discharge at the port of discharge. On the 164 shipments with both a planned arrival and a recorded discharge on this lane, across 18 sailings, containers were discharged a median 4 days after the carrier's planned arrival at the port of discharge: the planned date is the carrier's plan as bexy read each Bill of Lading, and those schedules have slipped.
Cargo on this lane loads mainly at China ports including Shanghai, Qingdao, Xingang and Xiamen and is discharged mainly at Felixstowe, Southampton, Belfast and Grangemouth on the United Kingdom side.
Every China-to-United Kingdom shipment here travels on an Evergreen (EGLV) Bill of Lading and is read from the carrier's own tracking record: vessel, voyage, port milestones and per-container status, re-checked after the estimated arrival (the ETA, or the last planned arrival when there is none) until arrival, for up to 30 days — free, and without an account.
Busiest destination ports · United Kingdom
| Port of loading | Port of discharge | Shipments | Share | Planned port-to-port | Slip vs plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shanghai | Felixstowe | 14,992 | 44% | 41 days median (39–44) · n = 445 | — |
| Qingdao | Felixstowe | 10,310 | 30% | 47 days median (44–51) · n = 863 | +4 days median · n = 134, 11 sailings |
| Xingang | Felixstowe | 1,897 | 6% | 56 days median (50–62) · n = 29 | — |
| Shanghai | Southampton | 1,653 | 5% | 39 days median (37–41) · n = 50 | — |
| Xiamen | Felixstowe | 1,511 | 4% | — | — |
| Qingdao | Southampton | 659 | 2% | 55 days median (48–58) · n = 50 | — |
| Ningbo | Felixstowe | 653 | 2% | 47 days median (44–51) · n = 32 | — |
| Qingdao | Belfast | 338 | 1% | 52 days median (45–58) · n = 34 | — |
Share is of this lane's shipments that record both ports. Planned port-to-port is the median (and middle half) from the loaded-on-board date to the first planned arrival at the port of discharge in the carrier's routing — no inland leg, unlike the transit time above — shown when at least 20 shipments have both dates; n is how many of the pair's shipments it rests on. Slip vs plan is the median, per shipment, of the actual discharge day minus that planned arrival day, over the pair's shipments with both a planned arrival and a recorded discharge (negative means ahead of plan), shown when at least 20 such shipments across at least 5 sailings back it; n is how many shipments, and sailings how many vessel voyages carried them.
Planned routing: 5% of 1,620 shipments with a planned routing to the port of discharge are planned via a transshipment port, most often Rotterdam (80), Ningbo (4), Qingdao (1); the rest are planned direct from the port of loading to the port of discharge. This is the carrier's planned routing when bexy read each Bill of Lading, and it can change after booking.
Recent shipments · China → United Kingdom
- EITU1292554 · Qingdao → Felixstowe4×
- DRYU9842208 · Qingdao → Felixstowe2×
- EISU8535288 · Qingdao → Felixstowe
- EMCU1738172 · Qingdao → Felixstowe
- EITU1742733 · Qingdao → Felixstowe2×
- EITU1215183 · Qingdao → Belfast
- EMCU5723057 · Qingdao → Felixstowe
- EMCU5996318 · Qingdao → Felixstowe
- EMCU5393525 · Qingdao → Felixstowe
- EMCU5485982 · Qingdao → Felixstowe
- EMCU5938707 · Qingdao → Felixstowe
- EMCU5912770 · Qingdao → Felixstowe4×
Frequently asked questions
- How long does it take to ship from China to United Kingdom?
- The median estimated transit from China to United Kingdom is 45 days, measured from the loaded-on-board date to the carrier's ETA at the final place of delivery, or the last planned arrival when the carrier gives none; half of shipments were estimated at between 42 and 50 days and 90% at 59 days or less, across 3,393 shipments with a usable on-board date and estimated arrival. The exact time depends on the service, any transshipment and any inland leg to the final destination.
- How long does shipping from China to United Kingdom actually take?
- The median actual transit from China to United Kingdom is 55 days, measured from the loaded-on-board date to the day a container was discharged at the port of discharge, as reported in the carrier's container events; half of these shipments took between 47 and 59 days and 90% took 60 days or less, across 1,035 shipments with a recorded discharge at the port of discharge. Unlike the estimated transit it ends at the port of discharge, with no inland leg, and it rests on fewer shipments: for most Bills of Lading bexy first reads the record after the container has been returned empty, when the discharge is no longer shown. On the 164 shipments with both a planned arrival and a recorded discharge on this lane, across 18 sailings, containers were discharged a median 4 days after the carrier's planned arrival at the port of discharge: the planned date is the carrier's plan as bexy read each Bill of Lading, and those schedules have slipped.
- Which ports handle China to United Kingdom shipments?
- Cargo most often loads at Shanghai, Qingdao, Xingang and Xiamen. On arrival it is most often discharged at Felixstowe, Southampton, Belfast and Grangemouth.
- Is cargo from China to United Kingdom shipped direct or transshipped?
- In the carrier's planned routing at the time bexy read each Bill of Lading, 5% of the 1,620 China-to-United Kingdom shipments with a planned routing to the port of discharge were planned via at least one transshipment port, most often Rotterdam, Ningbo and Qingdao; the rest were planned direct from the port of loading to the port of discharge. A transshipment port here is a planned stop between those two ports that is not the place of receipt or delivery, and routings can change after booking.
- How many shipments are tracked on the China to United Kingdom route?
- bexy has 33,845 shipments on record for the China to United Kingdom lane, the most recent departing Oct 5, 2026.
- How do I track a China to United Kingdom shipment?
- Enter the Evergreen (EGLV) Bill of Lading or container number on bexy to see the vessel and voyage, port milestones and estimated arrival — free, with no login required.
Browse all 33,845 shipments
China → United Kingdom · filterable by port, date & weight
Aggregated from 33,845 tracked Bills of Lading · median estimated transit from the loaded-on-board date to the carrier's ETA at the final place of delivery, or the last planned arrival when the carrier gives none, over 3,393 shipments · actual transit to discharge over 1,035 shipments with a recorded discharge · schedule slip vs plan over 164 shipments with both dates, across 18 sailings · data refreshed Oct 6, 2026 · how these figures are built.
Cite this page
bexy, "China to United Kingdom Shipping — Transit Time", data as of 2026-10-06, n = 33,845 tracked shipments. https://bexy.io/shipping/china-to-united-kingdomDefinitions, thresholds and limitations are on the methodology page.