Every year, Pakistani importers lose money, not on bad products, but on bad processes. Wrong
HS codes. Missed EIF filings. Demurrage bills that arrive three weeks after the container
cleared. The business of importing from China is not complicated. Still, the gap between what
agencies promise and what actually happens at Karachi Port or the Lahore Dry Port is where
the losses hide.
This guide is written by a team that works on both ends. Our YIWU office handles sourcing and
documentation from inside China. Our Lahore team manages customs and delivery on the
Pakistan side. Between the two, we’ve cleared hundreds of consignments and seen every
mistake in the book, including some we made ourselves early on.
What follows is the real process, with real numbers and a real Pakistani context.
Is Importing from China Still Profitable in 2026?
Yes — but the margin math has changed. Freight rates from China to Pakistan rose sharply in
2025 and have stabilised, not fallen. SBP’s foreign exchange restrictions still create friction in
supplier payments. And the 2025 India shipping ban (more on this below) added 15–35 days to
certain LCL routes.
That said, the fundamentals remain strong. The China-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement (CPFTA)
gives Pakistani importers access to zero or reduced duty on a significant share of Chinese
goods. Yiwu, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen still offer price points Pakistani markets cannot source
domestically.
The importers doing well in 2026 are the ones who’ve tightened their landed cost calculation.
The ones struggling are still treating “factory price + freight” as their cost. Landed cost includes
duties, port charges, clearing agent fees, deconsolidation (for LCL), and inland haulage. We
break all of this down below.