A container terminal yard at first light, with long parallel rows of identical containers receding into pale haze

Shenzhen · Incoterms 2020 · export declaration in our name

Export execution:
documents, freight, customs, delivery.

Export failure is rarely a manufacturing failure. It is a document failure — and it starts with the trade term you agreed.

Send us your order and port The four terms we quote

Default term

FOB

Incoterms 2020, 11 rules in force since 1 January 2020 — we quote FOB first

Transaction codes

Methods in China's customs code table. There is no EXW entry among them

Document families

Invoice, packing list, bill of lading, origin certificate, declaration, dangerous goods set

Yantian to Long Beach

14days

Typical sea transit on the published carrier baseline. Confirm at booking

01Execution layer · the trade term

The term decides who holds the export declaration.

FOB defaultFCA inlandCFR / CIF on requestNot EXW

That one decision decides whose name is on the declaration. It is worth reading before the price.

Incoterms 2020 rules, as we quote them
Rule	Where it is the right rule	What it does to the paperwork
FOB	Container freight ex Yantian or Shekou. Our default.	We clear export. Risk passes as the container crosses the ship's rail.
FCA	Goods stuffed inland, collected by your forwarder.	Export clearance stays with us. Incoterms 2020 adds an on-board B/L option under A6/B6.
CFR / CIF	Only when we are selling the freight.	The C-group rules are shipment contracts: risk still transfers at the port of shipment, not at destination.
EXW	Never quoted.	Buyer arranges the export, so the declaration is issued in the buyer's or forwarder's name.

A technical scope document beside a board sample on a pale bench under even light

Why the six codes matter CIF, C&F, FOB, C&I, market price, bonded warehouse. EXW is not one of them.

An engineering drawing laid flat beside a scale rule on a pale desk

Risk versus freight On CFR and CIF we pay the freight to destination and carry no risk after loading.

An open container on a pale loading apron with unlabelled cartons on pallets

Insurance defaults differ CIF defaults to ICC (C), the minimum cover. CIP defaults to ICC (A). Do not treat them as interchangeable.

Two sets of hands over a shared technical document on a pale desk

DDP is quoted rarely It makes us the importer of record in your market, and needs a tariff-adjustment clause.

A flat technical diagram of a journey line with four stage markers and two teal risk-transfer bars — Fig. 01Two risk-transfer behaviours. Shipment contracts release risk early; delivered rules carry it to the end.

Related Incoterms 2020 for electronics buyers Questions buyers ask us

02Execution layer · the document set

Six document families, assembled as the order runs.

InvoicePacking listB/LOriginDeclaration

Not generated after the vessel sails. Each has to agree with the others and with the spec sheet behind it.

A blank unmarked form on a clipboard with abstract ruled lines and empty tick boxes

Commercial invoice Customs value, duty and payment. Must agree with the purchase order.

Digital calipers closed around a machined aluminium housing beside a blank inspection checklist

Packing list Carton count, gross and net weight, volume, marks.

An open container on a pale loading apron with unlabelled cartons on pallets and blank paperwork on top

Bill of lading Original, telex release or sea waybill, whichever your payment term requires.

A finished 42U server rack with blank side panels, staged beside a metering power strip

Certificate of origin General CO, Form E for China–ASEAN, or the RCEP declaration. Form A survives only for China and Guatemala since 31 December 2020.

A container terminal yard at first light with parallel rows of identical containers receding into pale haze

Export declaration Issued in our own name as operating entity. This is the refund document.

A finished rack battery backup unit with a perforated front grille and heavy DC terminals

Dangerous goods set MSDS and UN 38.3 test reports for lithium cells and packs; ISPM 15 evidence for wood packaging.

Inspection record The pre-shipment report issued against the AQL agreed in the purchase order.

A production bay seen from above with rows of assembly equipment and a clear central aisle

The file behind the goods Test data, deviation notes and traceability depth, handed over with the shipment.

03Execution layer · the refund chain and the routing

The refund follows the declaration, so the declaration stays ours.

Four conditionsFiling to 30 April36-month capRecords 10 years

We explain the mechanism, not a rate. No electronics rebate percentage is published here, because it is not verifiable per product code.

Four conditions, all required A sale to an overseas party · customs declaration and actual departure · revenue recognised under the accounting standard · foreign exchange received.

Nominally self-operated is not enough An arrangement that is substantively an agency is excluded and taxed as a domestic sale.

Windows are dated Declare from the month after the customs export date to 30 April of the following year. Settlement must land in the same window.

An engineering bench under an inspection lamp with a finished board assembly, a magnifier arm and sample connectors

Records keep for ten years Retention moved from five years to ten, so the file is a long-term obligation rather than a shipping-week task.

Typical transit and reference rates ex Shenzhen
Mode and lane	Typical transit	Reference basis
Sea FCL US West Coast	14–16 days	Tier-1 ports. From $1,800 per 20GP.
Sea FCL Europe	25–30 days	Hamburg or Rotterdam. From $2,200 per 20GP.
Sea FCL United Kingdom	28–32 days	Felixstowe. From $2,000 per 20GP.
Sea LCL major ports	Lane dependent	From $300 per CBM, 1 CBM minimum.
Air freight US / Europe	5–8 days	From $4.50–4.80 per kg.
Express US / Europe	3–5 days	From $8.50–9.20 per kg.

A pre-shipment inspection on a warehouse floor with open cartons and sampled units — Fig. 03Inspection. Checked and packed before the sailing date is confirmed.

A container terminal yard at first light with parallel rows of containers in pale haze — Fig. 05Arrival. Import clearance and duty stay with you on all four terms we quote.

Transit times are typical carrier baselines, the weakest evidence in our research file. Rates are indicative forwarder quotes, not an index: no Yantian-specific index exists, because published indices cover Shanghai and composite lanes.

04Execution layer · the six questions

What buyers ask before the first shipment.

FOBFCACFR / CIFDDP by exception

Can you quote EXW if my forwarder insists? No. We explain what it does to the declaration chain, then quote FCA — same inland pickup, export clearance still ours.

Who is the shipper on the bill of lading? We are, as the operating entity named on the export declaration. That is the point of the structure.

Three finished fanless industrial computers in a row with closed enclosures and no boards visible

Can you quote CFR or CIF? Yes, when we are selling the freight. Risk still transfers at the port of shipment.

Will you handle DDP? Rarely. It makes us the importer of record, and any DDP quotation needs a tariff-adjustment clause.

Who pays the duty? You do, on all four terms we quote. We give you the code and the rate we verified, with its basis date.

An overlapping fan of finished TFT and OLED display modules with blank grey fields

What if the container misses the vessel? The document set is assembled while the order runs, so a re-booking is a schedule change rather than a rebuild.

05Start

Send us your order and destination port.

FOB by default. FCA for inland stuffing. Never EXW.

Recorded. An engineer will reply.

Written technical assessment, from eric@dfshk.cn.

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