How to choose a reliable Chinese supplier

China is the main manufacturing hub in the world, it is possible to find a wide range of products or even any type of products. China offers millions of manufacturers with possible customizations.

The Chinese suppliers research is a crucial step in your supply in China. It is recommended to choose your suppliers well to avoid bad experiences. Discover in this article how to find good Chinese suppliers.

1. On Internet. It is nowadays quite easy to buy goods from China and to find Chinese suppliers with the development of online platforms like Alibaba, Global Sources, or Made in China. You can contact them easily by typing the name of your product in the research bar to find the best price. However, it is important to be careful with attractive prices to avoid scams.
   
2. There are a lot of good suppliers that don’t have accounts like Alibaba, Global Sources, or Made in China. Many good suppliers with years of experience would rather like to attend the tradeshows. You can also go to trade fairs like the Canton Fair which takes place twice a year in Guangzhou.
   
   ( Our company Loktoo attends Canton Fair almost every year. We highly welcome you to visit us wherever you come from. )
   

3. You can also outsource the sourcing service to a sourcing agency in China like ASIACTION. The purchasing office identifies and validates Chinese suppliers, providing you with a complete sourcing solution in China.

4. Look for manufacturers, not resellers or traders.
It is important to remember that many businesses thrown up by search engines and sourcing platforms may be resellers, not manufacturers. While sourcing from such middlemen may be ok if you are buying products to retail such as beauty products, toys, clothes, or cheap electronics, when you require products that must meet specific technical requirements such as die casting, metal stamping, and plastic molding manufacturing it is best to identify a manufacturer and source from them directly. Most importantly, this also reduces costs. You can weed out resellers while verifying suppliers (more on that later).

“Gold” or “verified ratings” are not the last word on trustworthiness. What you also need to remember is that any supplier who pays Alibaba an annual fee for premium membership can get gold supplier status, which increases the vendor’s visibility on the site.

5. Call them! Call them by video call! Many Chinese suppliers are traders. If you want to cooperate with a manufacturer, you better set up a video meeting with them. Now most Chinese use WeChat to communicate instead of WhatsApp. You can add their WeChat by phone number (Remember “+86” in front of their phone number. +86 is the phone code of China).