Moving to China: a checklist that runs backwards from the packing date

What to do at six months, three months, one month and the week of the move — organised around the one date that actually constrains everything, which is when your residence permit is issued.

Six months out

• Confirm the posting, the start date and what your employer's relocation package actually covers — get the air consignment allowance in writing if there is one.
• Start the visa and residence permit process. This is the long pole in the whole tent.
• Get two or three quotes. Ask each for a survey, and use our volume calculator so you can check their estimates against a common standard.
• Work out roughly what you intend to ship. The honest cut happens now, not on packing day.
• If you own your UK home, decide whether you are selling or letting — it changes your storage needs.

Three months out

• Book the move, with packing dates provisional against the permit timeline.
• Decide sea, air, or a split shipment, and tell your mover so the customs entries are planned coherently.
• Read the prohibited and restricted list and deal with anything on it now — the drone, the medication, the wine, the antique with ivory inlay.
• Arrange marine transit insurance, and read what it actually covers.
• Start giving things away and selling. It takes longer than you think, and every cubic metre saved is money saved three times over.
• Check school places and, if you have pets, start the export health process — it has its own long timeline.

One month out

• Confirm packing dates now that the permit position is clear. If it is not clear, arrange UK storage rather than gambling on it.
• Sort out the things that cannot be shipped: cancel UK utilities, redirect post, close or transfer accounts, notify HMRC and your GP.
• Set aside what travels with you in your luggage — passports, permits, prescriptions, laptop, chargers, valuables. Label the room they are in so nothing gets packed by mistake.
• Empty the freezer, the drinks cabinet and the food cupboards. None of it is shipping.
• Book somewhere to stay in China for the gap between arriving and delivery — there will be one.
• Photograph anything valuable, for both insurance and your own records.

The week of the move

• Put everything travelling with you in one room and tell the crew it is out of scope. Better still, put it in the car.
• Be present on packing day, at least at the start and the end. Questions come up.
• Check the inventory before you sign it. It is the document Chinese customs will read at inspection, and a vague inventory invites a thorough inspection.
• Keep your copy of the inventory somewhere you can find it from another continent.
• Take meter readings and final photographs of the empty property.
• Confirm your mover has your China contact details and the delivery address, including the building, floor and lift situation.

After you arrive

• Complete the residence permit formalities as a priority. Your shipment is waiting on them.
• Register your address with the local police as required — a routine obligation for foreign residents.
• Send your mover the confirmed delivery address, the compound name and any building management requirements.
• Expect a customs inspection and do not be alarmed by it. It is routine.
• On delivery day, check items against the inventory as they come in, and note anything damaged before the crew leaves.
• Unpack promptly — particularly in Guangzhou or Shenzhen, where leaving goods boxed in a humid flat causes its own problems.

Questions people ask before booking