Importing porcelain tiles from Foshan,
what to check before you order.

Foshan, the tile capital

Guangdong's own media counted more than 1,000 ceramic-related companies and over 300,000 workers in Foshan in 2023, exporting to more than 160 countries and regions. Nanzhuang, in Chancheng district, was named China's first town of building ceramics in 2002.

Since 2007, environmental rules have pushed many kilns out of Nanzhuang to other provinces. A brand shown in a Foshan showroom is not always fired in Foshan: ask where the kiln is, and audit it when the order matters.

Porcelain or ceramic: the water absorption test

The international standard ISO 13006 (EN 14411 in Europe) sorts tiles by how they are formed and how much water they absorb, tested to ISO 10545-3. A tile is porcelain when it absorbs 0.5% of its weight or less. Chinese factories use the same groups under the national standard GB/T 4100 and will quote them by their Chinese names.

Format, thickness and rectified edges

Rectified tiles have their edges ground after firing, so every piece has the same exact size and can be laid with a narrow joint, though never with none. The sharp edges chip more easily, and the floor underneath must be flatter than for a cushioned edge.

Large formats such as 1200 × 2400 or 1600 × 3200 mm are trade sizes, not standard ones. The large porcelain slabs sold as sintered stone (岩板) have their own Chinese national standard, GB/T 44309-2024, in force since 1 March 2025. With large formats, warpage and size variation are the problems to check first.

Shade and calibre: one lot per area

After firing, tiles are sorted into shade lots and size lots (calibres). Two lots of the same reference can differ enough to show on a floor. Order each area from one shade and one calibre, check the codes printed on the cartons, and blend tiles from several boxes when laying. For deliberately varied designs, agree the expected variation in writing.

Slip resistance and wear

• Ramp test, R9 to R13: the higher the class, the steeper the oiled slope before slipping. The method, once DIN 51130, now sits in the European standard DIN EN 16165.
• Pendulum test: a wet value of 36 or more means a low slip potential under the UK Slip Resistance Group guidance.
• The two methods do not correlate, so an R class cannot be converted into a pendulum value. Specify the one your local rules or your client require.
• Wear on glazed tiles is rated by the PEI class (ISO 10545-7): class III for homes, class IV for entrances and public areas, class V for the heaviest traffic.

Packing and the container

Tiles reach a container's weight limit long before its volume: a 40-foot container offers twice the space but no extra payload, so tiles usually travel in 20-foot containers. As an order of magnitude, a 20-foot container carries about 27 tonnes, roughly 1,200 to 1,300 m² of 600 × 600 mm tiles 9 to 9.5 mm thick. Since 2016, every container needs a verified gross mass before it is loaded on the ship.

Standard tiles travel in cartons on wooden pallets. Large slabs travel upright, on wooden A-frames or in made-to-measure crates: laid flat, they break.

Inspection before the balance

• Dimensions, thickness, straightness, squareness and flatness, measured to ISO 10545-2, against the tolerances the standard sets for the tile's group.
• Shade against the approved master sample, in daylight, and one shade and calibre per lot.
• Visible defects: chips, cracks, damaged edges, glaze and print faults.
• Cartons: count, labels with reference, shade and calibre, pallet condition, then a check of the container loading.
• If the porcelain claim matters, a laboratory test of water absorption on samples from the production lot.