Sourcing from China
Two years living and working inside a Chinese machinery factory, on the side of the table that chooses the equipment.
No interpreter in the middle
Most sourcing problems in China are not translation problems in the dictionary sense. They are the gap between what a factory says it agreed to and what it understood it agreed to, and that gap opens widest when everything passes through a third person who is not accountable for the outcome.
We speak with the factory directly. When a technical drawing gets discussed, the discussion happens once.
China or Vietnam
Plenty of projects end up split across both: components from one country, assembly in the other. Which way round depends on tooling cost, component ecosystem, labour, tariffs at your destination, and how much of your volume is seasonal.
Comparing the two honestly is often the single most useful thing we do for a client, and it is a small piece of work rather than a large one. We have no reason to steer you toward either country: the fee is the same.
The same checks, the same way
Chinese suppliers get the same treatment as Vietnamese ones: registration and licence checks, export history, certifications verified with the issuer, and an on-site audit where the order size justifies it. The registries differ; the questions do not.
If this is close to what you need, tell us the specifics. We will say plainly whether we are the right partner for it, and what it would cost, before anything starts.
Start a conversationQuestions people ask about this
Can you compare quotes from Chinese and Vietnamese factories?
Yes, and it is worth doing on landed cost rather than unit price. Tooling, minimum order quantities, lead time and the tariff at your destination routinely change which country wins, and the headline price rarely does.
Do you visit factories in China in person?
For audits that justify the trip, yes. For smaller orders we do the paper checks and a structured video walkthrough, which catches more than people expect when the person asking knows what to ask for.
We already buy from China. Should we move to Vietnam?
Sometimes, and sometimes moving costs more than it saves for years. It depends on your tariff exposure, how specialised your supply chain is, and whether the Vietnamese component ecosystem for your product actually exists yet. We will give you the arithmetic, not a recommendation dressed up as one.