Moreover, there’s a huge number of containers that don’t make it onto the ships. Instead, they are sitting at the port waiting for operators to load them when the port reopens.

For example, for shoes, the laces and soles may come from other factories; for bracelets, the raw materials and gems may come from other factories. Generally speaking, sellers know the specific specifications of the products they want to produce, including colors, materials, and logos.

FCL is the most cost effective container choice and is calculated by the cost per volume metric and unit weight. Read more about China Sourcing Services here. Full containers come in 20 ft, 40 ft, and 40 foot high variations. For businesses importing smaller volumes of goods, LCL (Less than Container Load) is the alternative solution. LCL is shared container freight where several buyers store their goods in a single container. Although LCL is a great option for the smallest businesses, the downside is the cost is higher per volumetric.

How to get products manufactured in China?

However, you may be able to get a rough idea of the price range from the manufacturer. For customers who have prepared their designs, ask the supplier whether they have the ability to provide you with a prototype, as well as mass production in future. You need to identify the industry clusters or wholesale hubs related to your products and their raw materials. Following the industry cluster to find factories will let you achieve twice the result with half the effort.

Investigate Manufacturing Trends in the Market

Innovation is the biggest challenge facing upgrading of China’s manufacturing industry [30]. Digital technology has changed innovation model of manufacturing enterprises. The original innovation process is long and irreversible from design, R&D to production and marketing, If application problems are encountered and then modified and perfected, the time and cost were extreme high. Some production links are distributed globally through subcontracting or outsourcing, Which helps companies turn to open mode innovation [33]. With rapid development of 5G and other digital technologies, remote service in different places has become a reality.

What Is the Best Way to Communicate With Suppliers When Buying From China?

For example, Service providers can provide services in distant foreign countries, there are remote surgery, remote teaching, remote robots in field of manufacturing, etc. Digital technology improves competitiveness by developing digital services to replace traditional services [34].

While this is an investment, it is an opportunity to find and verify suppliers, and potentially view samples all in one trip. We’ll also touch on a smart way to pay international invoices, cutting costs and admin time and protecting your profits, using a Wise borderless account for business. You can also create and send your invoices by using our invoice generator or the downloadable free invoice templates. China exported over $500billion worth of goods to the US in 2018, and is the world’s largest exporter overall. Even if you don’t know any manufacturers, tell people in your network what you’re looking for. Much to my surprise, my (mostly U.S.-based) network was able to connect me with several injection mold manufacturers, both near-shore and overseas.