Track a package from China

Every parcel leaving China carries a tracking number, and the number's format tells you who is carrying it, where to look it up, and how worried to be when it goes quiet. This guide decodes the formats, sets realistic timelines for each shipping class, and walks through what to do when tracking actually stops.

Decode your tracking number

• EMS / China Post — 13 characters like EV123456789CN: two letters, nine digits, and CN. The first letter class matters: E…CN is EMS express, R…CN is registered airmail (slower, cheaper), C…CN is ePacket-class. Track on ems.com.cn, and once it lands in your country, your national postal service's tracker usually updates faster than the Chinese side.
• Cainiao / AliExpress standard shipping — starts with LP or CNB. Track at global.cainiao.com. Cainiao numbers often hand off to a local carrier with a different number for final delivery — the Cainiao page shows the handoff if you scroll the event list.
• Private linehaul carriers — YunExpress (YT…), 4PX (4PX…), Yanwen (UB… among others), SunYou, CNE. These carry the bulk of e-commerce volume. A universal tracker like 17TRACK or ParcelsApp auto-detects the carrier and stitches the handoffs together.
• Commercial couriers — DHL (10 digits), FedEx (12), UPS (1Z…), SF Express (SF…). Track on the carrier's own site; those update in near real time and their support can actually intervene.

Realistic timelines by shipping class

• Courier (DHL/FedEx/UPS/SF) — 3–7 working days door to door, nearly all of it visible in tracking.
• EMS — 7–15 days to most countries.
• ePacket / Cainiao standard — 10–25 days, highly destination-dependent.
• Registered / unregistered airmail — 2–6 weeks; unregistered may show nothing at all after export.
• Sea-freight consolidation ("special line" economy) — 30–60 days, with a long silent middle that is completely normal.

The silent middle: why tracking goes quiet

Nearly every "lost" package is in the gap between "Departed from origin facility" and the first scan in your country. Nothing scans a parcel mid-flight or mid-ocean. Expect silence of 5–10 days for air classes and up to a month for sea consolidations. The scans that matter are:

1. Export customs cleared — it left China. Silence after this is transit, not loss.
2. Arrived at destination / import clearance — it's in your country. From here, problems are local: duties owed, address issues, or your national post being slow.
3. "Held by customs" — usually means duties or paperwork, not confiscation. You (or the courier) will typically get a letter or a payment link; respond promptly, because storage runs out and unclaimed parcels get returned.

When to actually act

• No export scan 7+ days after "shipped" — the seller printed a label and didn't ship. Ask, then escalate; this is the most common e-commerce stall.
• No destination scan after ~30 days (air) / ~60 days (sea) — open the platform dispute before the buyer-protection window closes. The window is a hard deadline; carriers' "please wait" advice does not extend it.
• Delivered-but-not-received — check the GPS/photo proof couriers attach, then neighbors and building offices; file with the local carrier (they made the last scan), not the Chinese side.

Buying from a marketplace? Three habits that save disputes

• Screenshot the listing's promised shipping method and date — sellers sometimes silently downgrade courier to airmail.
• Make sure the number the seller gives actually shows your destination country in tracking. A number tracking to a different country is a classic fake-tracking scam.
• Note your buyer-protection deadline the day you order. Every "please be patient, dear friend" message is measured against that date.

Shipping something bigger than a parcel? See the shipping & sourcing guide for freight, customs and incoterms.