Guides to buying servers from China
Incoterms, customs and VAT, brand comparisons and checks before you pay. Written from the orders we handle.
- Importing
12 min readHow to buy and import enterprise servers from China: EXW, DAP & DDP explainedIf you have never imported hardware before, the vocabulary trips people up more than the shipping does. This guide walks through Incoterms, the order flow, customs and VAT by region, and how to keep your payment protected, the way we run orders every week. - Hardware
10 min readDell PowerEdge vs HPE ProLiant vs Lenovo ThinkSystem: how to chooseDell, HPE and Lenovo all build reliable servers, and for most workloads any of the three will do the job well. The choice turns on management tooling, your existing estate and use case. Here is how to decide it. - Hardware
9 min readNew vs refurbished servers: when each one makes senseThe refurbished discount is real, usually 40–70% off list, and so are the cases where paying full price is correct. Here is where server wear accumulates, how we grade used hardware, and a straight recommendation for each buying scenario. - Hardware
8 min readHow to check a used server before you pay for itMost bad used-server deals announce themselves in advance, if you know where to look. Five checks, the paperwork, the management logs, the drives, the burn-in, the pre-shipment evidence, in the order you should run them. - Remote management
11 min readiDRAC & iLO: setup, generations and license tiersThe out-of-band controller is what lets you run a server you have never physically touched. Here is how iDRAC and iLO differ, how to bring one up from the pull-tag password, and which license tier you actually need — the detail that quietly decides whether a refurbished unit can be reinstalled from your desk. - Importing
6 min readHow to import servers to the UAE: duty, free zones and deliveryThe UAE is one of the easiest Gulf markets to import into, provided you pick the right entry route. Here is the duty and VAT picture, the free-zone option, and the door-to-door flow from our Dalian warehouse to a Dubai or Abu Dhabi data center. - Importing
7 min readHow to import servers to Saudi Arabia: SABER, duty and deliverySaudi Arabia is a large, fast-growing data-center market, but one step trips up first-time importers: the SABER conformity certificate must be in place before the goods ship. Here is the duty and VAT picture, the SABER process, and the route from Dalian to Riyadh, Jeddah or Dammam. - Importing
7 min readHow to import servers to Nigeria: Form M, SONCAP and deliveryNigeria has the paperwork, not the mystery. Get Form M, SONCAP and PAAR right and importing servers from China is routine. Here is what each document is for, the duty and VAT picture, and the route from Dalian to Lagos or Abuja. - Importing
7 min readHow to import servers to the USA: Section 301, MPF and clearanceServers land duty-free under the HTS, but China-origin IT hardware carries Section 301 tariffs, and that is the number to model. Here is the tariff and fee picture, the compliance marks a US buyer expects, and the route from Dalian to a data-center corridor. - Importing
7 min readHow to import servers to India: BIS, GST and customsIndia is a large, fast-growing market with a clear rulebook: an IEC code to import at all, BIS registration for the hardware, and GST plus customs duty at the border. Here is what each step means and the route from Dalian to Mumbai, Chennai or Bengaluru. - Importing
6 min readHow to import servers to Egypt: ACI/Nafeza, VAT and deliveryEgypt has one rule that catches first-timers: the shipment must be pre-registered on the Nafeza single window and get an ACID number before it ships. Get that right and the rest is routine. Here is the tax picture and the route from Dalian to Cairo. - Importing
6 min readHow to import servers to Kenya: PVoC, IDF and deliveryKenya is East Africa’s data hub, and the two things to get right are the KEBS PVoC certificate and the import declaration. Here is the tax picture, the conformity process, and the route from Dalian to Nairobi. - Importing
6 min readHow to import servers to South Africa: NRCS, VAT and deliverySouth Africa anchors the continent’s data-center market. The two things to line up are the NRCS approval for regulated electrical goods and your SARS importer registration. Here is the tax picture and the route from Dalian to Johannesburg or Cape Town. - Importing
6 min readHow to import servers to the UK: VAT, EORI and deliveryServers are duty-free into the UK, so the whole game is VAT and paperwork. Get a GB EORI and decide how you account for the 20% import VAT, and the rest is routine. Here is the picture and the route from Dalian to a UK data center. - Importing
6 min readHow to import servers to Ghana: G-CAP, taxes and deliveryGhana is a growing West African hub, and the two things to line up are the G-CAP conformity certificate and your ICUMS filing. Here is the tax picture and the route from Dalian to Accra. - Importing
6 min readHow to import servers to Qatar: duty, clearance and deliveryQatar is one of the simpler Gulf markets on paper: 0% duty on servers and no VAT in force yet. Here is the picture and the route from Dalian to Doha. - Importing
6 min readHow to import servers to Australia: GST, ChAFTA and RCMAustralia is an easy import for servers: the China–Australia FTA takes duty to zero on most IT hardware, so the main lines are 10% GST and RCM compliance. Here is the picture and the route from Dalian to Sydney or Melbourne. - Importing
6 min readHow to import servers to Kazakhstan: EAEU, VAT and deliveryWe ship every server to Kazakhstan by air, and the forwarder delivers door to door in 1–2 weeks. Here is the tax and conformity picture and the route from Dalian to Almaty or Astana. - Importing
7 min readHow to import servers to Brazil: taxes, RADAR and deliveryBrazil is paperwork and a high tax load, not a mystery. With RADAR, the right NCM and a despachante, importing servers from China is routine. Here is the picture and the route from Dalian to São Paulo. - Hardware
7 min readDell PowerEdge 16G rack servers compared: R660, R760, the xs models and the AMD lineEight 16th-generation PowerEdge rack servers side by side, taken from Dell's own spec sheets and technical guides. The source documents are listed at the end of the page. - Hardware
6 min readHPE ProLiant Gen11 rack servers compared: DL360, DL380 and the AMD DL3x5 modelsSix ProLiant Gen11 rack servers side by side, taken from HPE's QuickSpecs. The source documents are listed at the end of the page. - Importing
8 min readServer import duty and VAT by country (2026): 32 countries, China-origin serversWhat a buyer pays at the border when importing rack servers made in China, country by country. Rates were checked against official tariffs and tax authorities in September 2026. The last column shows total border taxes on a $20,000 order shipped by air, as a share of the equipment price.