Doing Business in China For Dummies®

Working with Suppliers

You can work with two types of suppliers: factories and trading companies. A lot of the decision regarding which way to go depends on your product and how much of a presence you can maintain in China. Whether you go with a factory or trading company, you have to watch out for quality issues.

Finding suppliers

Finding suppliers in China is relatively easy. Finding good suppliers isn’t! Ironically, China’s explosive growth has made good suppliers harder to find because the market is flooded with so many poor operators.

You can find suppliers remotely, but you should always go to China to perform due diligence (DD). Here are a few ways to connect with suppliers:

✓	Ask for referrals. Hands down, the best way to find suppliers is to receive referrals from people you trust. (For tips on networking, see Chapter 15.)
✓	Peruse trade magazines for your industry. Just check out the ads and the companies in the featured articles.
✓	Surf Web sites that have a good deal of suppliers from China. Three of the better-known sites are www.alibaba.com, www.globalsources.com, and www.tradenet.com.
✓	Attend trade shows. China has numerous industry trade shows, and odds are that your industry has at least one trade show per year there. The gargantuan Canton Fair takes place biannually, every April and October (www.cantonfair.org.cn/en). If you’re thinking about going to the Canton Fair, plan early! Hotels and flights fill up quickly.

The middleman: Surveying trade-offs of trading ...