Shipping from China to Yangon
China → Yangon · via RGN air / Thilawa sea · clearance by Myanmar Customs Department
Yangon is commercial capital and the main import gateway, and it is served through RGN air / Thilawa sea. That combination is what actually sets your delivery date on this lane — the inland leg is same-day, so the clearance date is effectively the delivery date.
Clearance itself is handled by Myanmar Customs Department, and typical dwell at the gateway runs 7–14 days.
Import duty and tax position for Yangon
Myanmar Customs Department assesses duty and tax on cargo arriving for Yangon consignees. Current regime: Commercial tax 5%; duty 0–40%; advance income tax of 2% on imports, with a de-minimis position of No practical de-minimis.
Conformity is the part most first-time importers underestimate: Import license required for most commodity groups; FDA registration for food, drugs and cosmetics. Getting this wrong is expensive because it usually cannot be fixed after the cargo has landed.
Restrictions and known friction points for Myanmar: An import license is required for most commercial goods and must be issued before arrival. Foreign-currency and banking restrictions can delay duty settlement, which directly affects DDP feasibility. Confirm sanctions screening on the consignee before shipping.
What the routing looks like in practice
Yangon is the only meaningful sea gateway, and the Muse–Ruili land border with Yunnan carries a large share of China–Myanmar trade when it is open. Border status and banking channels change with little notice on this lane, so confirm both the crossing and the payment route at the time of booking rather than relying on last quarter's arrangement.
| Air gateways used | RGN (Yangon), MDL (Mandalay) |
|---|---|
| Air transit, China to gateway | 3–6 business days |
| Sea gateways used | Yangon (Thilawa and MITT) |
| Sea transit, China to gateway | 7–12 calendar days |
| Gateway serving Yangon | RGN air / Thilawa sea |
| Inland leg to Yangon | Same day from the gateway |
| Typical clearance / dwell | 7–14 days |
| Peak season to plan around | Oct–Dec |
Before you book: Yangon checklist
- Photograph carton markings and seal numbers before departure — it makes any claim far easier to settle.
- Check the de-minimis position (No practical de-minimis) against your invoice value before you decide how to split the shipment.
- Ask for the HS code in writing from your supplier and verify the Myanmar duty rate against it yourself.
- Declare lithium batteries, magnets, liquids and powders up front — retro-declaring after booking usually means re-planning the whole shipment.
- Get the conformity paperwork moving early: Import license required for most commodity groups; FDA registration for food, drugs and cosmetics.
- Use ISPM-15 treated pallets. Untreated wood is the most common reason otherwise-clean cargo gets held.
Air, sea or overland into Yangon?
| Mode | Transit to gateway | Best suited to |
|---|---|---|
| ✈️ Air Freight | 3–6 business days | time-critical, high-value and low-volume cargo |
| 🚢 Sea Freight | 7–12 calendar days | volume cargo where cost per kilo matters more than speed |
Transit shown is China departure to the Myanmar gateway and excludes the same-day inland leg to Yangon and 7–14 days of clearance.
Mode guides for Yangon
Frequently asked questions
How long does shipping from China to Yangon take?
China to the Myanmar gateway is 3–6 business days by air, 7–12 calendar days by sea. On top of that, allow 7–14 days of clearance with Myanmar Customs Department and a same-day inland leg to Yangon.
What duty and tax will I pay importing into Yangon?
Myanmar Customs Department applies: Commercial tax 5%; duty 0–40%; advance income tax of 2% on imports. The de-minimis position is No practical de-minimis. Under a DDP arrangement these are pre-paid, so nothing is collected on arrival in Yangon.
What certification do I need for Myanmar?
For regulated goods, plan for: Import license required for most commodity groups; FDA registration for food, drugs and cosmetics. Missing conformity paperwork is the single most common cause of a hold, and in most cases it cannot be remedied once the cargo has arrived.
How is the chargeable weight calculated for Yangon?
We compare actual gross weight against volumetric weight — length × width × height in centimeters divided by 6000 for air — and bill the greater of the two, rounded up to the next kilogram. Light, bulky cargo is almost always billed on volume.
Can you ship batteries or sensitive cargo to Yangon?
Yes. Battery cargo by air follows IATA PI 965–970 depending on how the cells are packed, and moves on certified channels via RGN (Yangon), MDL (Mandalay). Surcharges apply and the declaration has to be made before booking.
When is the busiest time on the China–Myanmar lane?
Space and rates tighten around Oct–Dec, plus the China-side windows of Chinese New Year in January or February and Golden Week in early October. Book one to two weeks earlier in those periods.
Other delivery cities in Myanmar
References & official sources
Duty rates, thresholds and conformity requirements for Myanmar change by ministerial decision, sometimes mid-year. The figures on this page are buyer-planning references, not a customs ruling — confirm the current position for your own HS code with Myanmar Customs Department or your broker before you ship.
- Myanmar Customs Department
- WTO — Tariff Profiles (applied MFN duty by country)
- WCO — Harmonized System nomenclature
- IMO — IMDG Code for dangerous goods by sea
- IATA — Lithium battery shipping guidance (PI 965–970)
Page data last reviewed: November 2026.
Shipping by industry
This page covers the route and clearance picture for the destination. Packing, classification and the compliance step that actually holds a shipment depend on what you are sending — these guides cover that by commodity.
- Fire Alarm Equipment Fire, Safety & Traffic Products
- Restaurant Furniture Retail, Display & Commercial Fixtures
- Amusement Equipment Toys, Sports, Outdoor & Leisure
- Gifts Consumer Goods & Gifts
- Amazon FBA E-commerce & Retail Channels
- Metal Fabrication Metal Products & Industrial Components
- Cutting Tools Metal Products & Industrial Components
- Compressors General Machinery & Industrial Equipment
- Automated Storage Equipment Construction, Mining & Material Handling
- Electrical Cabinets New Energy, Power & Electrical
- Automotive Glass Automotive & Vehicles
- Doors & Windows Building Materials & Construction Products
FCL Container Rates — China to Yangon
Live port-to-port ocean freight for a full container into Yangon, by origin port. Ocean freight only — origin haulage, customs clearance and destination delivery are quoted separately.
Spot allocations move week to week — reconfirm the rate against the current sailing before booking.
How these prices are calculated — chargeable weight
Freight is not billed on the number on your bathroom scale. It is billed on chargeable weight: the greater of actual gross weight and volumetric weight, where volumetric weight is L × W × H (cm) ÷ 6000. Denser cargo pays on its weight; light bulky cargo pays on the space it occupies. Whichever is higher is the one you pay — never the lower.
- One cubic metre = 167 kg. That is 1,000,000 cm³ ÷ 6000, the same divisor used for the volumetric check, so both sides of this page agree with each other.
- Per-kilogram channels. The rate is multiplied by chargeable weight, rounded up to the next whole kilogram. A 300 kg consignment that only measures out to a smaller volumetric figure is still charged on its 300 kg actual weight.
- Freight only. These are published freight rates. Duty, tax and customs charges at destination are not a fixed number we can print: they follow your product's HS code, its declared value and the exchange rate applied on the day of entry, so they are confirmed against your actual goods and quoted separately.
- Indicative only — the real price can be higher or lower. Nothing on this page is a quotation or a commitment. What you finally pay depends on what the product is, how it is packed, the chargeable weight, the declared value, the destination duty position and the exchange rate at the time. Send the product details, weight and dimensions and we will price your specific shipment.
Price Trend — Yangon
Live rate for the linked route page, shown here for a quick read before you click through.
Checking the Myanmar duty position yourself
Duty and tax figures on this page are planning estimates. The binding assessment is made by Myanmar Customs Department against your declared HS code at the time of entry; where the amount is material, verify the current rate through ITC Market Access Map before committing to an order.
Classification drives everything downstream: the same carton can attract very different duty depending on the heading it lands in, and the structure those headings come from is the World Customs Organization Harmonized System. If your product sits near a boundary between two headings, resolve it before shipping rather than at the border.
For ocean cargo, restricted commodities move under the IMO's IMDG Code, and the container has to be declared and stowed accordingly. Batteries, flammables and corrosives all have a compliant ocean path; what causes rolled bookings is finding out about them after the container is packed.
Watch: the process behind this route
This guide covers routing and clearance for Yangon. The video below covers the wider shipping process that sits around it.
Bills of Lading 101 - What Is a Bill of Lading — Flexport. Published on YouTube by a third party; we link it because it explains the process well, not because we produced it or endorse the provider.