Importing From China for Beginners: Your First Order in Ten Steps, From IEC to Your Warehouse

1. Who This Guide Is For

This guide is for someone placing a first commercial order from China: a shop owner, an online seller or a small manufacturer who has not imported before. It is the beginner's sequence, in the order you will do things. For the full reference (duty, shipping modes, customs and costs in depth) read our complete guide to importing from China to India. Both are written by our team in Karol Bagh, Delhi, from the DGFT, CBIC, RBI and BIS sources listed at the end.

2. Step 1: Get Your IEC and GST in Place

To import for business you need an Importer-Exporter Code (IEC) from the Directorate General of Foreign Trade. You apply online on the DGFT website; the IEC is the same number as your firm's PAN, the application needs the PAN, a bank account and an address in the firm's name, and the fee is ₹500. Remember to update it online every year between April and June, or DGFT deactivates it. Register for GST as well: the IGST you pay at customs is then recovered as input tax credit instead of becoming a cost. The documents checklist lists the other registrations your customs broker will ask about.

3. Steps 2 and 3: Check the Product Can Come In, and What It Costs

Step 2, can it be imported? Find the product's HSN code with a customs broker, then check three things: the import policy for that code in ITC(HS) Schedule I on the DGFT site (free, restricted or prohibited); whether the product is on the BIS list of products under compulsory certification (many electronics, toys and household goods are, and the Chinese factory must hold the licence for your model; see the BIS guide); and whether it needs another permit, such as FSSAI for food or WPC approval for wireless devices.

Step 3, what will it cost landed? The CBIC Compliance Information Portal shows the duty and conditions for each tariff entry. Add freight, insurance, Basic Customs Duty, Social Welfare Surcharge and IGST, plus port and broker charges, to reach a cost per unit, and compare it with what you can sell at. The landed cost calculator does this arithmetic, and the import duty guide explains each charge. If the margin does not work on paper, it will not work after the goods arrive.

4. Step 4: Find Suppliers and Verify Them

Shortlist three to five suppliers from B2B platforms, trade fairs such as the Canton Fair or wholesale markets. Before money moves, verify each one: the business licence and its 18-character unified social credit code on China's official enterprise registry, whether its business scope includes manufacturing or only trading, and whether the bank account belongs to the same company. The supplier scam red flags guide lists the warning signs; how to source products from China covers the search itself.

5. Step 5: Order Samples by Courier

Always test a sample before a production order. Samples usually come by international courier. Under the CBIC courier regulations, free-of-charge bona fide commercial samples up to ₹10,000 per consignment, sent without payment in foreign exchange, are a separate category; dutiable consignments up to ₹1 lakh go on a simplified declaration, and larger ones on the regular courier Bill of Entry. You will usually pay duty and the courier's clearance charge when the parcel arrives. Note that "gifts" from a supplier cannot be imported by courier as gifts: the gift route is restricted, so declare samples as samples. Test the sample against your specification, and keep it sealed as the reference for the production order.

6. Step 6: Agree the Order on Paper

A proforma invoice is not enough. Put the following in a signed purchase contract or a detailed purchase order: the product specification and the approved sample as reference, quantity and unit price, the Incoterm with its named port and edition (we suggest FOB, see FOB vs EXW), packing and carton marks, the label text for India, the production time, the payment schedule, and what happens if the goods fail inspection.

7. Step 7: Pay Through Your Bank

Pay the supplier through your bank (an Authorised Dealer bank) by wire transfer to the account of the company named on the contract. From 1 October 2026 the Reserve Bank's new Foreign Exchange Management (Export and Import of Goods and Services) Regulations, 2026 apply: your bank may permit an advance payment for an import after satisfying itself that the requirement is genuine, and may set its own threshold above which it asks for a standby letter of credit or a bank guarantee. The older fixed limit for advance payments no longer applies. Ask your bank what it needs before you agree a large advance with the supplier. Never pay an account in a different name, or one "changed" by email.

8. Steps 8 and 9: Inspect, Ship and Clear

Step 8, inspect before the balance. Have the goods inspected at the factory against the contract and sample before you pay the balance; the factory audit guide explains what an inspection covers. Step 9, ship and clear. Choose sea (LCL for small volumes, FCL for a full container) or air, and appoint a licensed customs broker. The broker files the Bill of Entry on ICEGATE from the invoice and packing list before the vessel arrives; you pay the duty online; customs assesses and may examine the goods; then the goods are released. The shipping guide and the customs clearance guide cover each stage.

9. Step 10: Label and Sell

Goods sold in retail packs in India must carry the Legal Metrology declarations: the importer's name and address, country of origin, common name, net quantity, month and year of manufacture, MRP inclusive of taxes, unit sale price and consumer care details. Agree the label with the supplier so it is printed at the factory. Keep the Bill of Entry: it is your proof of lawful import and the basis of your IGST credit.

10. Beginner Mistakes We See Most

• Paying the full amount in advance to a supplier found online, without checking the company or the account.
• Buying a BIS-controlled product from a factory without a licence for that model.
• Comparing an EXW price from one supplier with an FOB price from another.
• Skipping the sample, or approving a sample but not writing it into the contract.
• Pricing the goods without the duty, or without checking for anti-dumping duty on the product.
• Forgetting the annual IEC update.