Section 5: How to Find Suppliers by Visiting China?

While online sourcing is convenient, many importers prefer to visit China to secure better deals and verify manufacturers. If you’re new to the country, this can seem challenging, but this guide breaks down the 3 main methods professional importers use to find reliable, original manufacturers on the ground.

Tips for Your Trip to China

Before you land, take care of these essentials:

• Check Entry & Exit Restrictions: Due to global health events, border policies can change. Always inquire with the Chinese embassy in your country first to confirm you have all necessary permissions.
• Get a VPN: Websites like Google, Facebook, and YouTube are restricted in mainland China. To use your devices as you would at home, you must install a reliable VPN (like Astrill) before you arrive.
• Get an Interpreting App (or Interpreter):
  • App Recommendation: The iFLY Voice Input App is highly recommended for real-time, free Chinese-to-English interpretation.
  • Professional Interpreter: If budget allows ($50–$100 per day), hiring a professional interpreter is the most efficient option to navigate language and cultural nuances.

1. Find Suppliers in China Trade Shows

Attending trade shows is the most effective offline way to find suppliers, regardless of your business size.

Trade show suppliers are typically original manufacturers or large trading companies, offering competitive pricing if you meet their Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ, typically around $500 to $1,000 per product).

Trade shows are categorized into:

• Comprehensive: Wide range of product categories (e.g., Canton Fair).
• Specialized: Focused on a specific industry (e.g., Electronics, Gifts).

The Largest Trade Show: Canton Fair (Guangzhou)

This is the largest comprehensive trade show, held twice a year in Guangzhou (Spring and Autumn), with three distinct phases:

Note: There is a 3-day gap between phases. Schedule your trip accordingly if your products fall into different phases.

Recommended Trade Shows in Hong Kong

Hong Kong offers specialized shows often conveniently timed around the Canton Fair:

• Hong Kong Electronics Fair: April (Spring) / October (Autumn). Great for filling the gap between Canton Fair phases.
• Hong Kong Gifts & Premiere Fairs: Late April. Wide product categories (electronics, toys, party items) held during the gap between Canton Fair Phase Two and Three.
• MEGA SHOW: Late October. The largest sourcing event in the Asia-Pacific for gifts, housewares, kitchen, and lifestyle products, held between Canton Fair Phase One and Two.

Pro Tip: It is highly recommended to apply for a visa that allows you to visit both Guangzhou and Hong Kong during April and October. It’s only a one-hour train ride between the two cities.

Tactics for Dealing with Trade Show Suppliers

• Mid-Show Documentation: Make detailed notes of the MOQ, price, and contact information for products you like.
• Best Time to Buy Samples: Buy samples right before the show ends. Sellers often prefer to sell samples at the lowest possible price rather than carry them home.
• Negotiate After the Show: Finalize the price and quantity after the trade show ends. This gives you more time and space to negotiate a better deal than placing a rushed on-spot order.

2. Find Suppliers in Chinese Wholesale Markets

For those who can’t attend trade shows or want to buy smaller quantities of multiple product types, wholesale markets are an excellent alternative. Prices here can sometimes be even lower than trade shows or online platforms like Alibaba.

Visit Wholesale Markets in Yiwu

The Yiwu International Trade City is the world’s largest small commodities wholesale market.

• Scale: Over 50,000 suppliers for nearly all consumer product categories.
• Schedule: Open year-round, closing only for a 15-day period during the Spring Festival.
• Structure: A massive 5.5-kilometer, 4-floor building where products are clearly classified by area, making it very easy to navigate.

Visit Wholesale Markets in Guangzhou

Guangzhou is highly recommended for apparels, shoes, bags, cosmetics, and watches, as many manufacturers for these goods are located in or near the city.

• The Challenge: Guangzhou’s markets are very scattered, making them difficult to navigate for newcomers.
• The Solution: You must be fully prepared with research before you arrive. Talk to experienced foreign buyers who live there to utilize their practical knowledge.

Specialized Markets: Don’t miss the specialized markets:

• Electronics: Huaqiangbei Market in Shenzhen (The largest electronic market in the world).
• Fabrics: Shaoxing Keqiao (Largest fabric trading business in the world, only 90km from Yiwu).

3. Find Suppliers by Exploring Industrial Clusters

The ultimate goal for many is to find the real, original manufacturer—the ones who don’t attend trade shows, don’t use Alibaba, and only sell through domestic trading companies. This cuts out all middlemen, minimizing cost.

These manufacturers are concentrated in Industrial Clusters, where similar factories are located together to share supply chains and labor.

How to Locate Industrial Clusters

You can use online tools like Alibaba to pinpoint these clusters:

1. Search on Alibaba: Search for your target product.
2. Filter by Province: Use the filter to see which province has the most suppliers.
3. Check Supplier Names: Note the first word of the suppliers’ names—it’s often the city/province they are located in.
4. Verify Addresses: Check the operational addresses on the contact pages. The most frequently appearing town or industrial area is likely the industrial cluster.

Exploring the Cluster

Once located (e.g., in a town in Zhejiang or Guangdong):

• Go directly to the area. This is time-consuming but incredibly worthwhile.
• If you’re lost, talk to local people. They can often happily lead you to manufacturers for a small fee.