If you are a commercial importer — a company, trader, manufacturer or e-commerce seller moving a container rather than a personal parcel — the core document set for importing from China looks like this: commercial invoice, packing list, sales contract, bill of lading (B/L) or sea waybill, certificate of origin, customs declaration, proof of payment, and product-specific permits (certificate/declaration of conformity, MSDS, licenses). That is the starting point. From there the list adjusts to your specific product and HS code. Below is each document on its own: what it is, who issues it, and why customs needs it.
This article is the overview hub (pillar) for all import documents. Each deep-dive topic — customs clearance, HS classification, Incoterms, the sales contract, dangerous goods — has its own detailed guide that we link out to.
The direct answer: every document in one list
- Commercial invoice — the supplier's bill listing goods, quantity, price, Incoterms and HS codes. Issued by the factory/supplier. Customs uses it as the basis for customs value and to assess duty and import VAT/GST.
- Packing list — the physical breakdown of the shipment: number of packages, net/gross weight, dimensions, packaging type, markings. Issued by the supplier. Customs matches the physical cargo against the invoice during inspection.
- Sales contract (purchase agreement) — the legal basis of the deal: goods, price, delivery and payment terms, liabilities. Prepared by importer and supplier together. Customs uses it to confirm the terms of the transaction and the customs value.
- Bill of lading (B/L) / sea waybill — the transport document and contract of carriage; an original B/L is also a document of title to the goods. Issued by the carrier/line (via your forwarder). For air freight it is an air waybill (AWB); for road legs it is a CMR.
- Certificate of origin (CO / Form A) — proves the country where the goods were made. In China it is issued by the CCPIT (non-preferential) or China Customs/GACC (preferential/FTA). It affects the duty rate and any preferential tariff.
- Customs declaration — the master document filed with the destination customs authority. Completed by the customs broker using every other document.
- Proof of payment — payment orders, SWIFT, bank statements. Provided by the importer/bank. Confirms the price actually paid — the basis of customs value.
- Product-specific permits — certificate or declaration of conformity, licenses, MSDS for dangerous goods, phytosanitary/veterinary certificates. Issued by conformity-assessment bodies or state authorities. Without them, certain goods cannot be imported at all.
Customs does not read one document — it reads them against each other: a mismatch between the invoice, packing list and bill of lading is the single most common cause of a border delay.
Commercial documents: invoice, packing list, contract
These are the foundation of the deal. The invoice sets what the goods cost and on which Incoterms they ship — which determines what costs enter the customs value. The packing list describes the physical cargo; at inspection customs checks boxes, weight and markings against it. The contract is the legal frame: it fixes price, payment and delivery terms and protects you in a dispute. We do not go deep on the contract here — that is covered separately in our guide to the essential clauses of a China factory contract.
The critical rule: all three must be internally consistent. Product description, quantity, weight, price and HS code have to match. A difference between the weight on the invoice and the packing list, or a vague goods description, is a classic reason customs asks for clarification and holds the shipment.
Transport documents: bill of lading, CMR
The transport document depends on the mode of shipment. For sea freight from China it is a bill of lading (B/L) or sea waybill — at once the contract of carriage and, in the case of an original B/L, a document of title. For air it is an air waybill (AWB); for a road leg out of Europe (for example after transshipment) it is a CMR. Your delivery terms under Incoterms 2020 decide up to which point the supplier is responsible for transport and risk and from where you take over — which directly affects customs value and which freight costs you must add.
Origin, classification and the customs declaration
This is the block that sets the amount payable. The certificate of origin proves country of manufacture. The HS code — the international tariff nomenclature maintained by the World Customs Organization — is the classification that drives the duty rate, import VAT/GST and whether permits are needed; how to determine it correctly is covered in our guide on how to determine an HS code. The customs declaration pulls it all together: the broker completes it from the invoice, contract, transport and payment documents.
Note that customs law varies by country. Import VAT or GST is charged on the customs value plus duty, and the duty rate follows the HS code. Ukraine, for example, applies a 20% import VAT on customs value plus duty as of 2026; other markets differ — always confirm the current rate with the destination customs authority or your broker. For how the process runs in practice, see our guide to customs clearance for a commercial shipment from China.
Payment and product-specific documents
Payment documents (SWIFT, bank statements) confirm the amount actually paid for the goods — the basis of customs value — so the price on the invoice and the payment must match.
Product-specific permits are the most variable part and depend on the product category:
- Certificate or declaration of conformity — for goods that fall under safety/technical regulations (electronics, appliances, toys, machinery, PPE and so on), conformity assessment is mandatory; without it the goods cannot be released.
- MSDS (safety data sheet) and dangerous-goods paperwork — for batteries, chemicals, paints, adhesives. Lithium batteries are their own procedure, covered in our guide to shipping lithium batteries as dangerous goods.
- Phytosanitary / veterinary certificate — for food, timber, feed and goods of animal origin.
- Licenses and permits — for specific groups (medical devices, food, quota-controlled equipment).
How the documents feed clearance and landed cost
Documents are not a formality — they are the inputs to two things: how fast you clear customs and your final landed cost. An error or mismatch halts clearance; a wrong HS code changes the duty rate; a missing permit blocks import entirely. Every figure on the invoice, every weight on the packing list and every Incoterm feeds into the customs value calculation — and therefore into the landed cost of the shipment.
This is where a freight forwarder and a full-cycle sourcing partner part ways. A forwarder moves the box. A full-cycle company like Silk Way Sourcing prepares and checks the whole set: it makes sure the invoice, packing list and bill of lading agree, assigns the correct HS code, collects the permits back at the production stage in China, and hands a complete pack to the customs broker — so there are no delays and no surprises in landed cost at the border. That is the full-cycle model: factory search → verification → production and quality control → documents → logistics → customs clearance.
Get the import-documents checklist
Email us at contact@silkwaysourcing.com or message WhatsApp +380 97 883 4765 — we will send a full document checklist tailored to your product and HS code and review your document pack before it ships from China.
