Though manufacturing cost in China has risen in recent years, it is still the best place to source goods.
This article focuses on how those small companies or private business owner that cannot afford to establish overseas offices can source goods from China.
1. Search Engine
The easiest way to get a supplier of China is using search engines such as Google, Bing or Yahoo. You can simply use search combination like ”item name + China factory”(for example, “bluetooth headphone + China factory”).
2. B2B Platform
Thousands of suppliers are listed on these B2B sites like Alibaba, Global Sources, and Made-in-China.com. You can filter results with labels like “gold supplier”, “verified supplier”, “gold member”, or “onsite supplier”. Positive reviews partly indicate that the supplier is legitimate. Some B2B sites even offer supplier blacklists. For example, Alibaba has a list of banned members.
Verified suppliers listed at these sites may only mean that the companies are verified to exist. It does not necessarily mean that their production capability or quality have been verified (for example, a gold supplier at Alibaba only indicates a paid status).
There are also many traders (not manufacturers) listed in the supplier directories. So you have do your own diligence to get a good supplier.
3. Social Media
Social media is a good source for you to get feedback or reviews of potential suppliers though some of them may don’t have a social media presence. But please still remember to do your own diligence since the information provided here is often unverified and limited.
4. Trade Show
You can have a face-to-face talking with potential suppliers in trade shows. So you can get key business information like company background, product details, production capacity and quality control procedures direcly.
As far as electronic products are concerned, the following trade shows in China and Hong Kong are worth attending:
The Canton Fair is the largest trade fair in China and is held twice a year (including both Spring & Autumn session) in Guangzhou (close to Hong Kong in southern China). It has a huge variety of products other than electronics.
Hong Kong Electronics Fair and Global Sources Electronics show are two main electronic products shows. You can get suppliers with wide range from electronic parts to whole consumer electronics. Generally speaking, attenders in these two fairs mainly come from mainland China.
CES held in Las Vegas,USA and CeBIT held in Hannover, Germany are another two electronics trade shows worth mentioning. These two shows have many Chinese participants.
