Need some advice on importing and shipping from China

Hi there. I reside in South-Africa and I've just started a company that sells parcels on the local retail market. My question is:
Which is the best China based ocean freight shipping company to use ? I'm looking on saving costs by not using express services such as UPS, DHL and EMS.
Since I've only started out now, I'm not too sure what processes are involved when it comes to ocean shipping. I'm looking to start small with a shipment of about 900 USD and goods that are acquired from various suppliers in China. I would like it all to be shipped in one load.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Only from my time in the UK (now eight years ago) you could find a local company which will handle part-container loads - the kind of place which handles people moving their homes between countries. They usually will do anything from one carton to a full load. If you find someone reliable for a small quantity you'd then have no trouble when you need larger shipments.

An interesting point. Containers aren't always in the right place so when I moved from the UK to Australia in 1997 I had to ask what they meant when referring to a 'reefer'. Seems that it means 'refrigerated' so I wondered why my household good needed to be kept cool! Well, there's a lot of export of perishable cargo from Australia/New Zealand to the UK and the containers have to be sent back for the next shipment. Rather than sending them empty (costs as much as a full one) the space in the reefer is sold off cheap.

So if South Africa exports perishable goods to China you might find some nice cheap deals.

HAHA. Sounds like quite an experience. Thanks for the advice.

Boss check out local company Impson freight -- they will have the items collected for you and arrange the shipping and you can pay them in ZAR!