Sell to China

china manufacturers has a massive consumer economy. In addition to the well-publicised super wealthy, here are literally hundreds of millions of Chinese people with steadily increasing disposable incomes. The Chinese consumer, like most recently wealthy East Asian (Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese) people, is extremely brand conscious when it comes to purchasing clothing and accessories.

This is because nearly all average and cheaper quality items are produced within China anyway.

So, if you aren’t producing a jet set line of highly fashionable products, what kind of thing can you sell to China.

Here is a list to consider:-

1) Any range of medium priced fashion accessories involving silver, semi-precious stones etc., so long as it is designed in Europe, North America, Australia.

In order to sell these, sufficient budget is required to exhibit at 2 or 3 suitable Trade Fairs in Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou.

2) Any invention involving transportation, high tech, housing, civil engineering, infrastructure, agriculture, health and medicine etc.. Whether the invention is already developed into a product, is still on the drawing board or is a new system or process, it is always a good idea to register some form of protection ( Patent, Design Registration) in China. China’s intellectual property laws are now fully advanced and policed properly.

In order to sell any of these to China, it is necessary to ascertain where the market lies, and obtain a suitable Chinese partner. These partners can be either an established distributor if it is a developed product, or a manufacturer/agency in the same field if it is a system or process. In the latter case, the technology transfer will take the form of either a lump sum payment or a licensing agreement.

3) Food, Drink, Consumables.

Chinese consumers have a great curiosity for new food and drink. However, if the product doesn’t become a reasonable “hit”, it dies on the vine very quickly, and ends up as a one container load shipment. Some of the notable success stories are US fast food chains  and wine. This does not mean that all fast foods are a hit – like pizzas, burgers and KF Chicken. Some like Mexican, and Sandwich Chains have not made it big. The wine market, which has shown a massive yearly increase over the last 20 years, is beginning to be difficult for new labels to penetrate as many big distributors have established their import lines.

Overseas farm products have great acceptance from Chinese consumers. Imported items like powdered milk/baby formula are in such massive demand that there are smuggling rings bringing in large quantities. This is because of lack of consumer trust in the quality of this kind of product when it is produced locally.

In order to sell this kind of product, if the volume of sales required is large, it is necessary to attend relevant International Food Fairs in the 1st tier cities like Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou. If the initial volumes are smaller or more specialized, it is better to select the most suitable city to exhibit at.