Describe contents like an inspector would
Write what the thing is, not what it is for. "Cotton t-shirts, 3" clears faster than "gift", and a vague declaration is the most common reason a parcel sits.
China-bound
How much does it cost to ship a package to China?
Start with the part that decides everything else: a parcel to China is two shipments wearing one label, and the price you are hunting for belongs to the second one. What SMKlog sells is domestic parcel postage inside the United States, so the border leg is somebody else's quote. The rule set that leg has to satisfy is laid out here, taken off the postal country conditions for China on 2026-07-29, with the domestic leg priced live the same day.
Postal rules, datedWeight and size capsUS leg quoted live
Two legs, two invoices
The run to a US consolidator is an ordinary parcel. Everything past the port belongs to the export operator.
The leg with a real price on it
Plenty of China-bound goods never cross the border on the sender's own label. The carton moves domestically to a consolidator or a forwarder's warehouse, usually in southern California, and joins an export lot there. That first hop is a normal United States parcel, and it is the only part of the journey this site can quote. Three cartons went from Berkeley Heights, NJ to a City of Industry, CA 91745 address on 2026-07-29 to show the shape of it.
| Packed carton | Weight | Cheapest service returned | Window on the rate | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 × 8 × 4 in | 2 lb | USPS Ground Advantage | 4-5 business days | $11.04 |
| 14 × 12 × 10 in | 12 lb | FedEx Ground Economy | 7-8 business days | $24.69 |
| 18 × 14 × 12 in | 25 lb | UPS Ground Saver | no window returned | $45.45 |
The middle row is the one to look at twice: USPS Ground Advantage quoted $25.18 on that same 12 lb carton with a 4-5 business day window, half a dollar more than the cheapest row for three fewer days of waiting. On a leg that ends in a warehouse rather than a customer's hands, three days rarely matter. On a leg that has to make a sailing, they can decide the month.
What the postal service will accept for China
The country conditions page for China is the document that governs a postal parcel into the country, and it sets a different ceiling for each product. Size is usually what stops a shipment rather than weight, because the length and girth limits are tight next to the 66 lb allowance.
| Service | Maximum weight | Maximum length | Length plus girth | Customs form |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Priority Mail Express International | 66 lb | 60 in | 108 in | PS Form 2976-B inside PS Form 2976-E |
| Priority Mail International | 66 lb | 42 in | 79 in | PS Form 2976-A inside PS Form 2976-E |
| First-Class Package International Service | 4 lb | Size limits per the international manual, sections 251.22 and 251.23 | PS Form 2976 | |
One product is off the board entirely. The page states: “Global Express Guaranteed service is suspended as of September 29, 2024.” That suspension has stood for nearly two years, so the fastest postal option into China is Priority Mail Express International rather than the courier-carried product above it.
The 4 lb ceiling on First-Class Package International Service is the one that catches people out. A pair of shoes with a box around it can pass it, and anything with a book or a power supply in it usually does not, which pushes the shipment up to the 66 lb product and a very different price band.
What happens at the far end
China assesses duty and tax on inbound personal parcels, and the thresholds are low enough that a modest gift can cross them. The postal country conditions state the arithmetic plainly, and it is worth reading before you decide what to declare.
| Condition | What the postal listing states |
|---|---|
| Duty-free threshold | Items imported for personal use are exempt from duty and tax when the duties and taxes due come to 50 CNY or less |
| Value ceiling on personal goods | Items for personal use imported into China may not exceed 2,000 CNY, excluding items sent from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan |
| Personal article allowance | Each shipment is limited to RMB 100 yuan of contents, with a total of RMB 800 yuan per family per year |
| Recipient contact | The addressee's telephone number, mobile preferred, has to appear on the customs declaration |
| Unclaimed or under-documented parcels | Since November 30, 2018, customs disposes of items that arrive without proper customs information or that go unclaimed |
| Commercial goods | Importing commercially requires registration with China Customs, which is a different process from a personal parcel |
The telephone number line does more work than it looks. Duty on an inbound parcel is settled by the recipient, and customs needs a way to reach them; a declaration without a mobile number is how a package ends up sitting until the disposal clock runs out. Put it in the address block and on the form.
What will not travel
The prohibition list for China is longer than most destinations and it catches ordinary household things. Reading from the same country conditions page on 2026-07-29, the categories that turn up most often in real parcels are these.
- Food of animal origin, including meat and dairy, plus eggs and fresh produce
- Seeds, soil and plant material
- Used clothing
- Tobacco leaf
- Radio transmitting equipment and certain electronics and appliances
- Live animals, animal-derived materials and cremated remains
- Chinese currency
- Toxic and radioactive substances, and biological material
- Politically sensitive printed matter
Separate from the outright prohibitions sits a routing rule with real schedule consequences. The listing records that items containing powders, liquids, lithium batteries or lithium cells are barred from domestic air transport within China, so approved goods in those categories finish the journey by road. A parcel that clears customs in Shanghai and is going to Chengdu spends days on a truck it would not have spent in the air.
Value every item separately
The declaration needs a price against each line and a gross weight with its unit. A single lump sum invites the customs office to set its own number.
Ask before you pack
Check what the receiving household actually wants declared and how they prefer to settle duty. That conversation is quicker before the tape goes on than after the parcel lands.
Where these rules come from
- USPS Postal Explorer, Country Conditions for Mailing — China — prohibitions, restrictions, observations, customs form per service, weight and size limits, and the suspended product. Read 2026-07-29.
- USPS, International Shipping — the three international package products and the statement that a customs form is required to ship a package to another country. Read 2026-07-29.
- The three domestic quotes came from production runs through SMKlog checkout on 2026-07-29 and are printed exactly as returned.
Country conditions can be amended overnight, and a suspension appears with no warning at all. Check the country listing again on the day you mail, and remember that a courier operating its own export service publishes its own separate rules for the same destination.
For a parcel that stays inside the United States, including the run to a forwarder, the calculator prices it in a couple of minutes. For a pallet or a container, freight review puts a person on it.
Common questions
How much does it cost to ship a package to China?
The border-crossing leg is priced by whoever carries it, and that operator is not SMKlog: our checkout issues United States domestic parcel labels only. The leg this site can price is the domestic run to a West Coast consolidator, which came back between $11.04 for a 2 lb carton and $45.45 for a 25 lb carton on 2026-07-29.
How heavy can a package to China be?
USPS caps both Priority Mail Express International and Priority Mail International at 66 lb for China, and First-Class Package International Service at 4 lb, in its country conditions page read 2026-07-29. The size caps bite sooner than weight does: Priority Mail International stops at 42 inches of length and 79 inches of length plus girth.
Will the recipient in China pay duty?
Sometimes. USPS states that items imported for personal use are exempt from duty and tax when those duties and taxes come to 50 CNY or less, and that goods for personal use may not exceed 2,000 CNY in value. Anything commercial runs on a separate track that requires registration with China Customs.
Which customs form goes on a package to China?
Per the USPS country conditions read 2026-07-29: PS Form 2976 for First-Class Package International Service, PS Form 2976-A inside PS Form 2976-E for Priority Mail International, and PS Form 2976-B inside PS Form 2976-E for Priority Mail Express International.
What happens to powders and lithium batteries bound for China?
USPS records that items containing powders, liquids, lithium batteries or lithium cells cannot be carried by domestic air transport inside China. Whatever is accepted therefore finishes the journey on the ground, so build the extra days into any date you promise.