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Manufacture in China, Vietnam, India, or Elsewhere in 2021? [Podcast]

December 18, 2020

Manufacture in China, Vietnam, India, or Elsewhere in 2021? [Podcast]

Manufacturers continue to plan the move of some or all of their supply chains out of China? But where next? Perhaps the word 'exodus' is a little over-dramatic, but there has certainly been a marked rise in companies trying to diversify their manufacturing operations away from China alone since around 2018. One reason is the US/China trade war and the punitive tariffs imposed by the US government on some 'Made-In-China' goods, but we can't discount the coronavirus pandemic, as the manufacturing … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Risk Management Tagged With: China, diversifying sources, India, moving manufacturing out of china, offshoring, podcast, reshoring, sourcing suppliers, supply chain risk, vietnam

Tips For Continually Getting Good Results From A New Supplier | Vetting Chinese Suppliers (Part 11) [Podcast]

December 10, 2020

Tips For Continually Getting Good Results From A New Supplier | Vetting Chinese Suppliers (Part 11) [Podcast]

You've successfully vetted and started working with a new Chinese supplier. What's next? In our mini-series on vetting Chinese suppliers, you will already have learnt about due diligence, factory audits and visits, exploring testing facilities, and much more when it comes to vetting suppliers. If you follow through this process logically, perhaps with the help of local factory auditors and quality inspectors in China, you will be well-placed to find reliable suppliers who reach your … [Read more...]

Filed Under: China Supplier Vetting Tagged With: China, chinese suppliers, podcast, sourcing suppliers, supplier improvement, supplier management, supplier performance, supply chain kpis

Pricing, Negotiation, Contracts | Vetting Chinese Suppliers (Part 10)

November 13, 2020

Pricing, Negotiation, Contracts | Vetting Chinese Suppliers (Part 10)

Getting quotations is a part of vetting new Chinese suppliers, too.  We have been creating a mini-series guiding you through effective vetting of Chinese suppliers that will help you to find the best possible manufacturer for your products this year, and, as we come to the end of it, it's time to focus on one of the final stages: negotiating price, getting quotations, and signing contracts (listen back to the entire mini-series on vetting Chinese suppliers here 👍). Let's assume you have … [Read more...]

Filed Under: China Supplier Vetting, Uncategorized Tagged With: China, commercial negotiations, negotiation, pricing, Quotes in RMB, rfq, sourcing fro china, vetting suppliers

Chinese Suppliers Harder To Work With than Last Year, 2020 Survey Respondents Say

August 4, 2020

The State Of Manufacturing In China 2020 (Survey)

2020 has been a tough year for so many reasons: The COVID-19 pandemic, the continuing US/China trade war, the drive to exit China for some manufacturers, a global recession beginning, and more. But what effect has this had on the relationship between foreign importers and their Chinese suppliers? To find out, we sent a survey to both our Sofeast and QualityInspection.org readers to assess the state of manufacturing in China in 2020. The results were eye-opening... … [Read more...]

Filed Under: China Insights Tagged With: China, china manufacturing insights, chinese suppliers, manufacturing in China

Will China Lock Entire Provinces Down A Second Time in 2020?

June 14, 2020

Will China Lock Entire Provinces Down A Second Time in 2020?

In early February, I was wondering what effects the lockdown of China would have on importers. And, a few weeks later, importers suffered another (often more violent) blow: stores closed for months, a lot of unsold inventory, and weak demand across many product categories. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Coronavirus, Supply Chain Tagged With: China, coronavirus, covid-19, supply chain risk

COVID-19: What Are The 7 Major Risks for Importers of China Goods?

February 24, 2020

Covid-19 What Are the Major Risks for Importers of China Goods

As an importer, you are probably wondering how the COVID-19 epidemic in China is going to impact your business. Beijing says things are rapidly improving and hints that the situation will nearly be back to normal on the coasts by the end of February. They are still planning to hold the Canton fair. Let's all hope they are right. Let's hope there is no relapse (the epidemic starting again in certain cities) in the coming months. The situation is still far from clear. In the meantime, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: China Insights Tagged With: China, chinese suppliers, coronavirus, covid-19, dealing with uncertainty, importing from china, made in china, price increases, supply chain disruptions

Diverging Views on the China Virus Outbreak: Whom To Listen To?

January 29, 2020

Diverging Views on the China Virus Outbreak: Whom To Listen To?

Some medical experts in Hong Kong have devoted their careers to the study of micro microbiology and viruses, after the traumatic episode of SARS. These are the people I will tend to listen to, on this topic. For example, Yeung Kwok Yung and Gabriel Leung. And these Hong Kong specialists project the evolution of the infection in a way no Western newspaper (who mostly take the official government numbers at face value) dares to relate, it seems. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: China Insights Tagged With: China, chinese suppliers, coronavirus, wuhan virus

New Importer from China? Beware the Credulous Foreigner Syndrome!

December 2, 2019

Managing Chinese Suppliers: Beware the Credulous Foreigner Syndrome

After about 40 years of openness, and about 15 years of 'direct trade' without Hong Kong trading companies, one might expect that foreign buyers take more precautions when dealing with Chinese suppliers. And, to be sure, some buyers do pay attention to risks. They have heard a few horror stories. They have read about common misconceptions, typical pitfalls, assumptions to avoid, and best practices for supply chain management. Unfortunately, it seems that a majority of people who haven't … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Supplier Management Tagged With: buying from china, China, China manufacturing, sourcing from china, sourcing tips, tips for importers

How To Fight Back Against Fake Goods In China Trade Shows

November 25, 2019

How To Fight Back Against Fake Goods In China Trade Shows

For all the talk about improvements in China's intellectual property protection, many importers are still facing very unethical behavior from their supplier base. And nowhere is it more apparent than in trade shows. The temptation for suppliers to show a customer's innovative product is often too strong. So, how to fight back against fake goods in China trade shows? … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Legal System Tagged With: China, fake goods, IP, IP leakages, IP security, supplier management, trade fairs, trade shows

Beware of this China Scam: The Commodity Bait and Switch

October 14, 2019

china scam switching commodities to a cheaper one

We are contacted regularly by overseas buyers who are about to purchase a commodity product from a Chinese manufacturer, and it is nearly always a very risky situation for the buyer as switching out an order of commodities to a cheaper commodity at the last minute is an all too common China scam. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Sourcing New Suppliers Tagged With: China, commodities, scams, small buyers, tips for importers

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Weekly updates for professional importers on better understanding, controlling, and improving manufacturing & supply chain in China.

This is the official blog of Sofeast.com.

This blog is written by Renaud Anjoran, an ASQ Certified Quality Engineer who has been involved in Chinese manufacturing since 2005.

Tweet Renaud here or hit the button below to get in touch.

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