Sourcing Products from China

Every successful China products importer follows procedures that have been established over a very long period. The keyword is here “successful importer” because importing is a business where patience and experience often more count than speed.

When you start Sourcing Products from China, you should have already established a clear vision which products would be interesting for your import business.

You can arrive at such desirable products by using the following methods:

a)      Browse the large China products search engines

b)      Visit one or more of the Hong Kong or China Trade Fairs

c)       Ask you customers what they are looking for

Method a) + b) will give you an excellent overview what is on offer in China but you still have to do some fine tuning to find the right products. Most importantly, they will provide you with contact details of a large number of manufacturers and make them also aware of your company.

After you have talked to your customers at home (method c)), you should know by now, what they are looking for and you can refer that to the manufacturers that you have made contact with.

Meeting manufacturers at their nicely decorated booth at the fair or browsing their websites is one thing, but visiting their factory is another one.

We always suggest our clients to visit potential new suppliers in person or by an appointed representative to make sure that he is trustworthy and competent.

In order not to overstretch your budget, you can always combine your factory visits with visits at Trade Fairs by visiting them either before or after them. This will save you time and money by avoiding another costly trip to China.

In one of our other blogs we have already pointed out the unlikeness to find real new products at Trade Fairs or by browsing China manufacturers’ websites. They are usually kept hidden there but they will show them to you during your factory visit. It is understandable that nobody wants to give away new developments to their competitors.

Visiting suppliers in person gives you a great advantage as opposed to importers that only make a short trip to Asia to visit one or more Trade Fairs.

Germany Export Import Consultant

Germany is the world’s fourth largest economy with an estimated trade surplus of approx. 210 Billion US$ in 2012. Behind the USA, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea, it is also the 5th largest importer of Chinese products.

It is therefore essential that German exporters and importers need to stay on top of important changes in the Chinese industrial sector.

Some are operating with their own import/export offices in Hong Kong or mainland China, but that has its price and makes only sense if it is supported by a large import/export volume.

Other importers/exporters have employed a German Import Export Consultant that keeps them constantly updated about the latest developments in China.

They can however only do so, because they are very familiar with the Chinese business sector by having lived and worked there for a considerable time and are frequently traveling to China and know the requirements that must apply for imports to Germany.

Furthermore they have built up a local network of informants in China which is necessary to obtain all relevant information. Visiting Trade Fairs only is not enough because there is simply not sufficient time to collect all the information that importers and exporters need for their decision making.

Usually German Export Import Consultants provide following services to customers that want to import products from China:

•    SOURCING
•    FACTORY ASSESSMENTS
•    PRODUCTION CHECKS
•    PROJECT MANAGEMENT
•    HELP WITH FACTORY CLAIMS
•    ARRANGE ON-LINE AND PRE-SHIPMENT INSPECTIONSTRANSLATION SERVICES
•    SUPPLIER EVALUATIONS
•    LEGAL SERVICES
•    OUTSOURCING OF COMPONENTS

Recently more and more Chinese companies are seeking for help with their exports to Germany because they are facing a much tougher business environment compared to previous years.

Our company has been repeatedly asked to help Chinese manufacturers with:

•    LOCATING and qualifying new business partners including manufacturers in Germany
•    VISITING their existing customers in Germany to inform them about new product developments
•    NEGOTIATING with existing customers in Germany to settle claims amicably or discuss new terms
•    KEEPING, UNDERSTANDING, COMPLYING with local requirements and safety standards in Germany
•    INFORMING them about new market developments in Germany
•    ORGANIZING business trips to Germany
•    ADVERTISING in leading international trade magazines