Doing Business in China

China has cheaper labors and a great many manufacturers.If you want to manufacture products directly in China,how do you start?Here are some good tips.

First,Find manufactures in China on the internet,such as alibaba.com.Look through their product pictures for the factories that are producing items similar to yours. Look for the suppliers that are "certified" or have "gold stars" or whatever the different sites use to differentiate the "best" suppliers from the rest of the pack.Then send your prototypes of your products to the factory.Note that using these web sites is risky and there's no guarantee that what you see is what you get.

Second,invest in a trip to China to attend a textiles/clothing trade show where you can meet suppliers face to face and show them your prototypes. After you have two or three suppliers you think are capable, enthusiastic, cooperative and interested in working with you, you can send them your prototypes and have them quote and reproduce them to demonstrate their capability.

Third,note where is the market for your products?How are you going to sell your products in sufficient quantities to keep the supplier interested in supporting you? In my opinion, if you have the sales and distribution, then getting the product made in China is the easy part. You should not be thinking about how to make your products in China unless you are already selling thousands of pieces of your clothes per month.

Four,Researching on the Internet and journying from the USA to the factory is not enough and I can personally assure that significant problems will arise. Especially if you are unfamilar with Chinese business culture. If you are really serious about manufacturing your clothing line in China; you will need "loyal boots" on the ground.A good import and export agent is important.