About China Sourcing Guide

Why this site exists

Sourcing products from China is one of the best ways for small and medium businesses to stay competitive — and one of the easiest places to make expensive mistakes. Factory cities, trade channels, shipping options, and payment methods all have their own unwritten rules, and most of the information online is either outdated, written to sell you something, or aimed at large corporate buyers.

China Sourcing Guide exists to fill that gap: practical, honest guides written for independent buyers, small brands, and first-time importers who want to understand how buying from China actually works before they commit money.

How we work

This is a small, independent publishing project. The content is written from hands-on input by a China-based procurement practitioner — someone who regularly works with factories, freight forwarders, and trade companies inside China, and who has seen where buyers typically go wrong.

Our editorial policy is simple:

• China-specific facts get checked. Factory cities, sourcing channels, typical price ranges, shipping routes, and platform practices mentioned on this site are reviewed and corrected by the site owner, who works in procurement in China.
• Content is updated as things change. Trade regulations, platform rules, freight rates, and payment channels move fast. We revisit our guides when markets or rules shift, and every page carries an "updated" date so you can see how fresh the information is.
• Honesty over hype. If a method is risky, slow, or only works at certain volumes, we say so. We would rather you read a cautious paragraph here than learn the lesson with a lost deposit.

What you will find here

Step-by-step sourcing guides, plain-language explainers on topics like Incoterms and customs duties, and practical planning tools — estimators and calculators that help you sanity-check costs before you talk to a supplier. Everything is free to read.

If you spot something that looks wrong or outdated — especially a fact about sourcing in China — please tell us. Corrections from readers make this site better.