As of April 2025, Sino-Dutch trade continues to play the role of a European hub, with bilateral trade reaching $128.7 billion in 2024, up 3.2 per cent year-on-year. China’s exports to the Netherlands are dominated by electronics (32%), photovoltaic modules and electric vehicles, while the Netherlands maintains a surplus with China thanks to semiconductor equipment (ASML’s export licences to China have expanded), high-end agrotechnology (greenhouse systems and dairy products), and flowers (annual exports of more than €1.2 billion). The two sides have deepened green port co-operation, with the Port of Rotterdam and the Port of Ningbo building a ‘digital twin’ logistics system to improve customs clearance efficiency by 40%, and Eindhoven’s smart city project introducing China’s 5G and AI technologies. Despite EU carbon tariffs and Red Sea route turbulence pushing up transport costs, China and the Netherlands have stabilised the supply chain through the ‘China-Europa-Bahn-Tilburg Line’, which has seen cross-border e-commerce parcels surge 55% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2025. Future co-operation will focus on hydrogen energy storage and transportation, joint R&D of biomedicine and the construction of semiconductor industry chain toughness.
Freight from China to the Netherlands by sea in April 2025
| Type of transportation | Transportation time | Transportation costs |
| Sea Freight (20-foot container) | 30-35 days | $1450 |
| Sea Freight (40-foot container) | 30-35 days | $2550 |
| Sea Freight (LCL) | 35-40 days | $252 |
| DDP Sea Freight Double Clearance and Taxes to Door（100KG） | 45-50 days | $210 |
| DDP railroad double clearing tax to door（100kg） | 30-35 days | $242 |
| DDP Truck Transportation Double Clearance to Door (100kg) | 20-25 days | $259 |
Understanding import taxes and duties
| Product Category | Customs Duty Rate | Standard VAT Rate |
| Electronics | 0% – 14% | 21% |
| Textiles | 9%–%12 | 21% |
| Footwear | 3% – 17% | 21% |
| Agricultural Products | 0 %– 17% | 9% |
| Automobiles | 10% | 21% |
Air freight from China to the Netherlands
Advantages of airfreight from China to the Netherlands
China air cargo to the Netherlands has outstanding advantages: leading time, relying on Beijing/Shanghai direct flights to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (Europe’s third-largest cargo hub) with more than 10 all-cargo flights per day, and the fastest door-to-door delivery can be completed in 36 hours; Intelligent and efficient customs clearance, the Dutch customs pre-declaration system (DAF) supports electronic document processing, the fastest cross-border e-commerce parcels can be cleared through customs in 3 hours, and the customs clearance time for bulk goods is 50% shorter than that in Europe on average. Precise territory-wide coverage, relying on TNT, PostNL and other local networks to achieve 48-hour distribution throughout the Netherlands and major European cities, and supporting specialised transport of high-value semiconductor equipment, flowers and cold chain. Remarkable cost-effectiveness: In 2025, China and the Netherlands will increase the number of freight flights to more than 30 per week, and the capacity expansion will push down the freight rate of a single kilogram by 12% year-on-year, which, combined with the intermodal mode of ‘air transport + China-European Union liner’, will reduce the comprehensive logistics cost by 15% to 25% compared with pure air transport. 25 per cent.
Cost of air transport
| destination | Cost (per kg) | Transportation time |
| Amsterdam Airport Schiphol(AMS) | $8 | 2-4 days |
| DDP Air Freight Dual Clearance Tax Paid to Door | 8.5 | 10-14 days |
Express delivery from China to the Netherlands
The core advantages of shipping from China to the Netherlands via international courier include:
Extremely fast time – direct flights to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS) daily more than 12 classes of all-cargo flights, the fastest 48 hours door-to-door delivery, e-commerce small packages and emergency spare parts First choice for e-commerce parcels and emergency spare parts.
Intelligent customs clearance – seamless connection between the Dutch customs pre-declaration system (DAF) and the Chinese electronic customs declaration, 90% of the parcels are automatically released within 3 hours, and goods under 150 euros enjoy the ‘zero-paper document’ fast track; Europe-wide fast track; direct flights to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS), more than 12 daily all-cargo flights. ‘Fast Track.
All-European hub coverage – relying on the largest logistics cluster in Europe at Schiphol Airport, distribution to Benelux and western Germany within 48 hours, support for constant temperature transport of semiconductor equipment, flower cold chain and other high value-added logistics.
Cost Optimisation – by 2025, China-Dutch freight routes will be increased to 30+ flights per week, with a 15% year-on-year reduction in the cost of a single kilogram of airfreight, combining Combined with the mixed transport scheme of ‘Airfreight + China-European liner’, the comprehensive cost will save more than 20% compared with pure airfreight.
Safe and transparent – GPS tracking of the whole chain + anomaly warning system, the rate of damage to individual packages is less than 0.3%, and the DDP mode avoids tariff risks, meeting the needs of cross-border e-commerce, precision instruments and luxury goods transport. The DDP mode avoids tariff risk and meets the transport needs of cross-border e-commerce, precision instruments and luxury goods.