Yiwu runs the largest wholesale commodities market in the world, and that single fact governs every move in and out of the city. The most important thing to get right here is not the route or the district. It is keeping your household goods and your trade goods completely separate.
One vetted mover from our network takes the job, matched for Zhejiang and for the particular demands of this city. Yiwu has an unusually international resident population for a city of its size, drawn from the Middle East, Africa and South Asia as well as Europe.
There is no port. Goods clear at Ningbo, roughly two hundred kilometres east, or at Shanghai. Yiwu is also a rail freight origin in its own right, with services running to European terminals.
Yiwu's freight infrastructure is out of all proportion to its size, because the market generates enormous outbound volume. That works in your favour for availability.
By sea. Goods clear at Ningbo, about two hundred kilometres east and the busiest port in the world by tonnage, or at Shanghai. Either is two and a half to three hours by road. Frequency is good from both.
By rail. Yiwu is a European rail freight origin in its own right, and the service to London ran directly in 2017. Availability shifts, but for a shipment where speed matters it is worth asking about.
Now the warning, because it is the most important paragraph on this page.
Customs treats used personal effects and commercial goods as entirely different categories. Personal effects relief applies to your own used belongings, in reasonable quantity, arriving as a household shipment. It does not apply to stock, samples, or new goods bought at the market for resale. Putting the two in the same container does not get your stock in under the relief. It risks losing the relief on the whole shipment and it can turn a straightforward clearance into a lengthy one.
If you are a trader leaving Yiwu, you need two shipments: a household move and a commercial consignment, documented separately and declared separately. Any mover working this city properly will insist on that. One that offers to combine them is not doing you a favour.
Yiwu is compact, flat and modern by comparison with most cities of its size, and delivery is generally uncomplicated.
Choucheng, the central district, holds the older town core and a good deal of mid rise residential stock. Lifts are common in the newer blocks. Streets are busy, particularly during market trading hours, and a delivery scheduled for mid morning in a central street will spend a while waiting.
Futian, around the market complex itself, is dense with a mix of residential and commercial buildings. A lot of traders live close to their business here. Access is workable but parking near an entrance often needs arranging, and the surrounding roads carry very heavy goods traffic.
Beiyuan and Jiangdong hold most of the newer compound housing and are where longer term international residents tend to settle. Planned roads, service lifts, room to unload. These are the straightforward deliveries.
The international population here is unlike anywhere else in China. Traders from the Middle East, Africa, South Asia and Central Asia have settled in substantial numbers, some for many years, and the city has the restaurants, mosques and services to match. For a move it means the local trade is genuinely used to shipping to destinations that most Chinese movers rarely see, which is useful if your route is not a European one.
Summers are hot and humid in the Zhejiang pattern. July and August cost more in crew hours than autumn does.
Yiwu prices similarly to Ningbo with the road leg added. The variable that matters most is not in this table: it is whether your shipment is cleanly a household one, because a mixed declaration can cost more in delay and duty than the whole freight bill.
Plan for around £300 to £1,100
Single traders and short stays, shipping personal effects only.
Plan for around £1,300 to £3,400
The common Yiwu household shipment, usually a flat's contents.
Plan for around £3,600 to £8,500
Families settled here for several years, generally with a full home to move.
Tell us whether the shipment is purely household. In Yiwu that answer matters more than the address.
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This is the section to read twice in Yiwu. Personal effects relief covers your own used belongings in reasonable quantity, arriving as one household shipment, and requires a valid residence permit, a full valued inventory and your passport details. It does not cover stock, samples or new goods bought for resale. Declare a commercial consignment separately, on its own documents.
The national rules are the same across mainland China, so the detail on permits, restricted goods and the cultural relics rule is set out in full on the China removals and shipping page. Read that before you start packing, particularly the section on items made before 1949.
Departures from Yiwu go to a wider spread of countries than from anywhere else in China. The Gulf, Egypt, Nigeria, Pakistan, India and much of Central Asia are all regular destinations alongside Europe, and the local firms handle them routinely.
Whatever the destination, separate the household move from any commercial shipment before you start. For Britain, apply for Transfer of Residence relief with HMRC before the goods leave. And note that new goods bought at the market are not used personal effects under anybody's rules, so they do not belong in the household container in either direction.
A move usually means moving money too, whether that is a deposit on a Yiwu flat or funds coming back the other way. We have helped customers with currency exchange in any currency through trusted partners for many years, and our partners can help with the money side of your move. Mention it on the form and it gets included.
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Zhejiang's cities share Ningbo and Shanghai between them. Yiwu is unusual in also being a rail origin of its own.
For the full picture on routes, sea freight, rail freight, costs and Chinese customs, start at the China shipping and moving page.
No, and this is the most expensive mistake made in Yiwu. Personal effects relief covers your own used belongings in reasonable quantity. It does not cover stock, samples or new goods bought for resale. Mixing them risks losing the relief on the entire shipment and can turn a simple clearance into a long one.
Two shipments, documented and declared separately: a household move under personal effects, and a commercial consignment on its own paperwork. Any mover working this city properly will insist on that arrangement. One offering to combine them into a single container is not helping you.
Ningbo, about two hundred kilometres east and the busiest port in the world by tonnage, or Shanghai. Either is around two and a half to three hours by road. Frequency is good from both, so you have real choice over sailing dates.
Yes. Yiwu is a European rail freight origin in its own right, and a direct service to London ran in 2017. Availability shifts, so confirm the service for your window rather than assuming it, but it is worth asking about where speed matters more than cost.
Six to eight weeks door to door by sea, covering roughly thirty five days sailing, clearance at Ningbo or Shanghai, and the road leg into Yiwu. Rail is faster and costs more. Air is about two weeks and priced by weight.
Beiyuan or Jiangdong, where most of the newer compound housing sits. Planned roads, service lifts and room to unload. Central Choucheng is workable but busy, and the streets around the market in Futian carry very heavy goods traffic during trading hours.
Yes, and those are among the most common routes out of the city. Yiwu has a long established trader population from the Gulf, Africa, South Asia and Central Asia, so the local firms handle those destinations as ordinary work rather than as exceptions.
A valid residence permit, a complete inventory with values and your passport details. The goods must be used personal effects arriving as one shipment within the permitted window after you enter the country. Keep anything commercial entirely out of that declaration.
New goods bought for resale cannot. Items you have genuinely bought for your own home and used are a different matter, though a container full of identical new items will attract questions whatever you call them. If in doubt, declare it commercially and pay the duty rather than risk the relief on everything else.
Send your collection address, your Yiwu district, a rough idea of the volume and your date. A vetted mover from our network checks the route, the access and the paperwork, then comes back to you with the price.
Send your move detailsWe match international moving enquiries with vetted moving companies in the AGM Group network, each holding FIDI FAIM certification and BAR Overseas membership.
We are not a removal firm ourselves. We find you the one that suits your route, and you deal with them directly from there.