17 8 月, 2026
Complete Guide: How To Import From China
Many people want to import goods from China, but they do not have any international trade experience, and they are worried about language barriers, complicated international trade procedures, scams, or lack of product quality management experience, and thus lack the confidence to try.
Although there are many tutorials on the Internet that teach you how to import from China, most of them are not suitable for current small businesses, startups, kickstarters, crowdfunding companies or e-commerce importers.
This guide provides detailed instructions on how to import from China. You can also easily learn all the knowledge of the entire import process from choosing profitable products, verifying suppliers to importing customs clearance. Enjoy your learning.
Step 1. Choose What Products To Import From China
Choosing the right products to import from China, they can bring you considerable profits.
Import popular products
If you have rich experience in marketing development and mature marketing channels, please import popular products. Popular products have a large market demand. If you have a complete distribution system and strong promotion capabilities, this is a very good choice.
Unique and innovative everyday products
People usually buy ordinary daily products directly from large retailers. If you want to sell ordinary products, you can try to adjust the product design to make it unique.
For example, ZAMAT Contour Memory Foam Pillows and Plixio brand Memory Foam Pillows have annual sales of millions of pieces. Unlike ordinary pillows, their memory foam pillows have a shape that conforms to the human body curve, allowing consumers to relax and treat their cervical spine very well, so they are very popular.
Niche products
A niche product means that the product has many unique characteristics that are different from other products, and it can also be recognized by consumers. Niche market means fewer competing products and consumers are more willing to pay more for them. But Niche products, you need to act quickly before the market is full of competitors and occupy as much market share as possible. For such products, the profit margin is usually considerable.
Step 2. Find Chinese Suppliers Online
The way to search for Chinese suppliers online is fast and cost-effective. This is the main method for international buyers to find Chinese suppliers. Online management of overseas supply chains is being welcomed by multinational corporations and startups because of the timeliness and low cost.
Baidu.com
Baidu is China’s largest search engine, which includes the official websites of almost all Chinese suppliers. Make good use of Baidu, you can find the suppliers you want.
Sogou.com
Sogou is the second largest search engine in China. We can also use it to find suppliers.
Bing.com
Bing is another search engine you can use to find Chinese suppliers.
Linkedin.com
Some Chinese suppliers have established company homepages on Linkedin, which provides a new search channel for overseas buyers interested in importing from China.
Step 3. Find Suppliers at Trade Shows, Exhibitions and Wholesale Markets
Find Suppliers at Trading Shows / Exhibitions / Fairs
The Canton Fair is the largest exhibition in China. There are hundreds of thousands of exhibitors every year. There are hundreds of large and small exhibitions in major cities in China such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen every year. In the small and medium-sized cities of various provinces such as Hangzhou, Ningbo, Wenzhou, Jinhua, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Nanjing, Suzhou, Wuxi and industrial clusters, there are also many industry exhibitions.
Find Suppliers at Chinese Wholesale Markets
Many large and medium-sized cities in China have wholesale markets for different products. Both Yiwu International Trade Market and Shanghai Hardware Wholesale Market are relatively well-known wholesale markets. In the wholesale market, you can find many small and medium wholesalers and traders. The product quality ranges from high-end to low-end. If you want to buy spot goods, then the wholesale market is a good choice for you to find suppliers.
Step 4. Evaluate & Verify Suppliers
There are so many suppliers in China for you to choose from, and you must be puzzled how to identify reliable suppliers from them. A good supplier is an important factor in the success of your international procurement. The following are the methods and steps on how to verify suppliers.
Check Business License
By checking the supplier’s business license, you can focus on the company’s establishment time and business scope.
- It is better for the supplier’s company to be established for longer than 2 years. The product quality of the new company is unstable and the team members are unstable.
- Good supplier: The product range is concentrated in a certain industry rather than broadly to many industries.
Factory Audit
Factory Audit is a cost- and time-effective way to prepare a complete profile of your potential supplier, ensuring they will become a reliable part of your global supply chain. With a Factory Audit Report in hand you will be able to confirm that the audited factory is capable of delivering to your production specifications, address and prevent potential further costly disruptions once production is launched.
Step 5. Negotiation for Better Pricing, Shorter Lead Time and Lower MOQ
When you negotiate prices, delivery dates, payment terms, etc. with suppliers, you need to pay special attention to the term Incoterms. Different trade terms imply different responsibilities, costs and risks for buyers and sellers. This will affect the offer accordingly. The 5 most commonly used in actual business are listed below for reference.
EXW Price
Refers to the completion of delivery when the supplier delivers the goods to the buyer at its location or other designated locations (such as a workshop, factory or warehouse) for disposal, and the seller does not go through export customs clearance procedures or load the goods on any means of transportation. Under this clause, the supplier is not responsible for any shipping costs. That is, the buyer arranges to pick up the goods from the supplier’s warehouse. Therefore, if you do not have your own freight forwarder or you are a novice, this term is not recommended.
FOB Price
When the goods cross the ship’s rail at the designated port of shipment, the seller completes the delivery. This means that the buyer must bear all risks of loss or damage to the goods from that point on. The FOB term requires the seller to go through customs clearance procedures for the export of goods. FOB quotation = original product cost + freight from the supplier’s warehouse to the agreed port in China + export processing fee.
CIF Price
“Cost, insurance and freight” means that the seller completes the delivery when the goods pass the ship’s rail at the port of shipment. CIF quotation = original product cost + transportation cost from supplier warehouse to port in your country/region + insurance + export processing fee.
DDP Price
The seller completes the import customs clearance procedures at the designated destination, and delivers the goods that have not been unloaded on the delivery means of transport to the buyer to complete the delivery. The seller must bear all risks and costs of transporting the goods to the designated destination, including any “taxes and fees” that should be paid at the destination when customs formalities are required.
DDU Price
The seller delivers the goods to the buyer at the designated destination for disposal, without going through the import formalities, and without unloading the goods from the delivery vehicle, that is, the delivery is completed. The seller shall bear all risks and costs of transporting the goods to the designated destination, excluding any “taxes and fees”.
Step 6. Check Samples
All suppliers promised that the product quality is very good. Before you choose a supplier and place an order, you should ask for samples and evaluate whether the supplier’s product quality meets your requirements, evaluate whether their existing products are what you want, and evaluate whether the supplier can produce customized products according to your requirements.
Sample checking includes visual inspection, functional test, and reliability test. Usually the sample fee will be refunded after you place the mass production order.
Step 7. Choose the Best Supplier
After evaluating the quality of the sample, there are other 8 basic factors that will determine which supplier you will eventually work with.
Low price but reasonable
When you compare quotations from different suppliers, you can’t just look at the numbers. You need to compare the material type, thickness, size, weight, etc. stated on the quotation. Some suppliers offer very low prices, but they use thinner materials and the actual product size is too small. You may need to eliminate the highest and lowest quotations.
Willingness to cooperate
Suppliers’ willingness to cooperate is an important evaluation factor for your selection of suppliers. If a supplier is of good quality but has no willingness to cooperate, you should not choose it.
Salesman’s English level
When you encounter a Chinese supplier who is not fluent in English, you repeat your requirements over and over again, and your supplier still does not produce products in accordance with your requirements. This is time-consuming and desperate.
Compare lead time
Delivery time refers to the time required to produce and prepare all products for shipment after you place an order. If you have multiple suppliers to choose from and the prices are similar, it is best to choose a supplier with a shorter delivery time.
Consider transportation solutions and costs
If you don’t have a trusted freight forwarder, and you prefer suppliers to help you handle logistics, then you have to compare not only product prices, but also logistics costs and solutions.
Confidentiality agreement
If you are purchasing a custom design product and you paid for tooling / mold / plate cost, then the supplier must be willing to sign an NDA agreement.
Solutions for defective products
Reliable and responsible suppliers usually have complete solutions for defective products.
Payment terms
The prevailing payment terms are 30% advance payment + 70% final payment before shipment. The payment terms for mold fees are 50% advance payment before mold opening and 50% payment after sample approval. Suppliers who offer too much advance payment are not suitable for cooperation.
Step 8. Place Order
Sign the proforma invoice and arrange the deposit.
Step 9. Quality Control
Quality control is a very important and difficult step in international procurement. Quality control is usually achieved by laboratory testing, production monitoring and quality inspection.
The four types of quality inspections that can help you achieve your quality control goals:
Pre-production inspection
Pre-production inspection tells the buyer which kind of raw materials (or components) will be used. Factories are often suspected of lowering their costs by purchasing substandard materials, and this can be disastrous for the buyer. The pre-production inspection can also focus on the processes followed as production starts.
During production inspection
A during production inspection (also called “DUPRO inspection”) allows the buyer to have an idea of average product quality, early in the production cycle. It is the most useful and the most under-rated tool at the disposal of importers. It usually takes place once some finished products have come out of the lines. If quality issues are found, what is already produced might be re-workable, and corrective actions can be taken for the rest of the job.
Final inspection
The final inspection (also called “pre-shipment inspection”) is by far the most common type of QC check. It takes place once 100% of shipment quantity is finished and at least 80% is packed, so it can be a real random inspection. Its objective is to confirm a shipment’s quality, rather than catching issues early.
Container loading inspection
The container loading inspection, like the pre-production inspection, is seldom used. But it can be a worthwhile option in some specific cases. It can be useful if the buyer has a precise loading plan and needs it to be respected very precisely, or if the packaging is not conventional.
Step 10. Logistics Arrangement
After the production is completed and pre-shipment inspection passed, the next important step is to ship the product to you from China. There are 7 common modes of transportation:
- Express delivery
- Sea freight
- Air freight
- Railway freight
- Truck transportation
- Sea/air and express for e-commerce
- Direct economic transportation for dropshipping (less than 2 kg)
Express delivery (< 500 kg)
If the weight is less than 500kg, you can choose express. It is a service provided by major companies such as DHL, UPS, FedEx, TNT, and SF Express. It only takes 3-5 days to express from Shanghai to destinations around the world.
Sea freight
Sea freight is the most common way of international trade transportation. It is suitable for bulk cargo and long-distance transportation. The cost is relatively low, but the transit time is longer.
Air freight
Air freight is suitable for urgent goods or high-value goods. The transportation speed is fast, but the cost is high.
Step 11. Customs Clearance
When the goods arrive at the destination port or airport, they need to go through customs clearance procedures. You need to prepare the following documents:
- Bill of lading or airway bill
- Commercial invoice
- Packing list
- Certificate of origin (if required)
- Import license (if required)
You can hire a customs broker to help you with the customs clearance process, which can save you time and avoid potential problems.
After customs clearance, you can arrange inland transportation to deliver the goods to your warehouse or designated location.
Conclusion
Importing from China can be a complex process, but with the right knowledge and preparation, it can be a very rewarding business venture. We hope this guide has given you a comprehensive understanding of the entire import process. If you have any questions or need assistance with your import project, feel free to contact us.