Business partner in China. New business ideas. Business meeting times

China is a country with its own specificity, characteristic of many eastern cultures. Do you want to start a business with China? We will tell you where to start collaborating with Chinese partners if you have not had such experience before.

Search for business partners

First you need to find potential partners. The simplest and most convenient tool for this is Alibaba. To find a supplier, you can use other online platforms - Made-in-China.com, GlobalSources.com, Gongchang.com. For connoisseurs of the Chinese language, the Chinese analogue of Alibaba is 1688.com.

You can also search for data about suppliers from China in open sources. Google, Baidu, Yandex, Taobao are suitable for this purpose. On the last of the listed sites you can see high-quality photographs of products, study which product categories are most actively sold in the domestic market, and determine the most popular suppliers.

In addition, you can resort to the help of consulting companies that will not only help you find a manufacturer, but will also advise you in the future during the transaction process.

Another option is to visit specialized exhibitions in Ukraine or China. For example, in Guangzhou, China, the Canton Fair is held, which has the status of one of the largest exhibitions in Asia. Here you can get acquainted with the latest products, covering virtually all niches on the market.

The most popular types of business

In China, you can work according to four schemes:

independent collaboration;
cooperation with a person-company;
cooperation with a partner company;
opening an office in China.

Independent cooperation is the most popular scheme among small and medium-sized businesses. It assumes that you yourself will come to China, hire a translator, choose a company and sign a contract with it. There are a lot of risks involved, but this is the cheapest option.

Working with a human company means that you hire your own representative in China, who helps control product quality and reduce the risk of delays. In fact, you are hiring a full-fledged remote employee. This scheme is suitable for businessmen who have experience working in China, but are currently ordering small quantities of goods.

The third scheme involves assistance from professional companies. This is a completely normal approach that can be compared, for example, with outsourcing accounting or legal services. In this case, most of the risks are assumed by the partner company.

The essence of the fourth scheme is that you open your own division in China with an office and staff. In this case, you will have high-quality operational control, but you will have to be responsible for all risks.

First steps

Preliminary negotiations should be held with Chinese manufacturers. First, send out requests: explain to potential partners what you intend to produce, in what quantity and what quality of the product you expect. This will allow you to examine price ranges, minimum production requirements, and production lead times.

Calculate the cost of production. In addition to running the factory, you should include shipping, customs duties, and certification costs in your cost.

Before starting cooperation, you should check your potential partner. Ask him for the statutory documents and translate them, and then check the company in different databases. The most accessible way is the Alibaba open database.

Ask the potential contractor to provide you with a packing list - a document that states the name, cost, weight and volume of the cargo. This data can then be sent to transport companies so that they can calculate the cost of services for you.

To study the quality of a certain factory's products, you should order samples. The best option is to independently visit at least five production facilities to observe the work process and choose the most reliable factory.

Typically in China, factories that produce similar categories of goods are located in the same area and create thematic clusters. For example, Shenzhen is considered the world center for electronics production, Guzhen for lighting, and Foshan for furniture.

If you are planning a visit to China, the first thing you should do is hire a translator. His services will cost $200, but they are worth it. Factory workers rarely communicate in fluent English, and when problems arise, they cannot even put together two words in it. This is perhaps the most problematic aspect of cooperation with Chinese partners, so do not spare money on a translator.

Carefully write down the terms of the contract to protect yourself as much as possible from defective goods. Clearly indicate the requirements for product quality and state that the product must always correspond to the “pilot” sample. In addition, the production period and sanctions for violating it should be indicated. Remember that Chinese manufacturers very often violate deadlines.

You should constantly monitor production. To do this, it makes sense to send your person to China or start cooperation with a company that provides order support and quality control services.

Manufacturers almost never tell the customer about the defect, hoping that he will not see anything. In this regard, you need a person who will constantly monitor the work process in the factory.

If you are unable to monitor the factory on site, maintain constant communication with the supplier. Always ask about the work process, ask to send you photo and video materials.

The last part of the payment must be made after receiving the goods. This way you can once again be safe from defective products.

Choose a transport company responsibly. Remember that she is responsible not only for delivery, but also for the passage of goods through customs and certification.

A little about the psychology of Chinese businessmen

Chinese businessmen behave pragmatically: if you order a product, they will willingly cooperate, but if not, they will treat you indifferently. At the same time, they appreciate when they are given attention. Therefore, offer them business lunches, give them gifts and congratulate them on the holidays. However, you do not need to adhere to any national traditions or rituals.

China has a system of personal relationships called guanxi. It is based on the concept of “face”. For the Chinese, “face” is the outer part of a person. If you lose “face” in front of a Chinese resident, it will turn into a real social tragedy. If a Chinese suspects that you can somehow ruin his “face,” he will do everything to prevent this. It is curious that even the word “foreigner” in Chinese sounds like “laowai,” which literally means “overseas devil.”

The country represented by the customer does not play a special role for the Chinese. The main thing for them is the scale of the order.

Please note that in China the emphasis is on building relationships, and contracts are concluded as an afterthought and are not given much importance. Chinese businessmen can sign a 40-page document without even reading its contents. Local entrepreneurs do not consider a contract to be the main guarantee of successful cooperation.

Some categories of goods are cheaper to produce in Ukraine. For example, simple clothes. But if we talk about the production of more complex outfits or shoes, then China looks more attractive. In addition, in China it is traditionally profitable to produce equipment and products that cannot be produced in Ukraine due to the lack of equipment and suitable facilities.

Do you want to go to China as a tourist? Our team will help you decide on documents for a visa, travel route, local prices and accommodation.

Deliveries from China and ordering production there according to your specifications remain a profitable area of cross-border activity for domestic online stores. Let's talk about the main “humanitarian” features of business with China - based on materials from the OpenChina.com.ua portal dedicated to this topic

Guan-xi

The Chinese principle of “guan xi” (关系), that is, “business relations”, implies:

Frequently, at least once a year, personal visit to Chinese partners or meeting them on the sidelines of one of the exhibitions there. At the same time, it is customary to present Chinese partners with a symbolic, inexpensive gift that reflects the specifics of your country. Also, you should not miss the congratulations of your Chinese comrades on various holidays of the Celestial Empire. Developed personal contacts greatly increase the efficiency of business with the Chinese.
Absence of refusals in speech– the Chinese themselves, if they cannot implement anything discussed, will lead you in a roundabout way to independently abandon this issue. Refusals are unusual for them and have an extremely distressing effect on them.
Competitive Information– a Chinese (and any eastern) supplier or manufacturer usually tells you how much other importers buy from him of the product you are interested in, stimulating you for a large contract volume.
Leisurely personal negotiations – It’s not worth starting a conversation with the price of the product.
Only directors should have contact with Chinese directors - hierarchical structure is important for the Chinese equivalence of positions during negotiations.
The most noticeable thing in table etiquette is fish. first offered to the most respected of those sitting.

Digital codes in Chinese texts

Everyone knows that in modern English “2” can replace the word “to”, “4” - the word “for” (and in Russian, transliterated in Latin, “4” can replace the sound “ch”). A similar phenomenon exists in the Chinese language - moreover, it arose a long time ago, long before SMS and the Internet. Some of these “codes” should be taken into account when communicating and doing business with the Chinese:

"4" sounds exactly like the word "death", this is the most hated figure in China. In Chinese strong alcohol, up to 39 or from 50 degrees. In the numbering of floors, the third is often followed by the fifth, and the thirteenth or twenty-third by the fifteenth or twenty-fifth. The same applies to apartment numbers, telephones, cars. Therefore, do not scare the Chinese with anything containing the number 44, especially 4444.
"8" is China's favorite number. especially in business, marketing: it sounds like the word “wealth”. In China, there are many numbers like 8888. The outline of an eight appears at every step in advertising.
“1” – can replace the words “should”, “will”, “want”.
“5” – most often replaces the pronoun “I”; but can also replace the preposition “without”. For example, “51” - “I want, I will, I must.” And “54” most likely means “immortality.”
“520” - “I love you” - is the most popular of the long youth digital codes.
“7” – eat food. For example, “517” - “I’m hungry, I’ll eat.”
“250” often replaces the word “fool”.
“94” – I agree. Serious business people often send this type of SMS.

You can try to decrypt a record with such codes using this article.

Golden weeks

During the Spring Festival (春节, chun-tse) - more precisely, two weeks before and two weeks after this holiday, known in our country as the “Chinese New Year” - manufacturers and customs officers almost do not work in China.

Almost all natives of villages and towns leave big cities for their small homeland, the rest simply go on vacation. For those who work during this period, the quality of the goods may deteriorate, and the timing of all processes will noticeably increase. Transport in China during this period is overloaded, as if during a mass evacuation.

Ch'ung-tse falls between January 20 and February 20 - but in a simplistic way we can say that the whole of January and February is difficult in China negotiate, conclude contracts and receive goods on time.

The end of December for business with China is also in question, since all large wholesale buyers know the properties of the Ch'ung-Tze period and before the holidays they are trying to increase the volume of imports for this “dead period,” which overloads manufacturers. And even at the turn of February-March, the inertia of the holidays is felt - after them, manufacturers clear away the mass of orders placed by inexperienced importers during these “vacations”.

In addition, manufacturers often lay off workers before the Chinese New Year and train new employees immediately after it, in February-March - which sometimes affects the quality of products.

If you have a permanent partner in China, in anticipation of the days of Chong Tse it is appropriate to send e-card(they’re not hard to find online: Google “春节”).

And there is another “golden week” - the first week of October: the “anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China,” something like Independence Day. This week is not as “dead” as the spring week, but it is also non-working.

Search for a supplier

European partners usually find a Chinese supplier at a grand exhibition held every spring and every autumn in the metropolis of Guangzhou in southern China. This event is known as the Canton Exhibition or Canton Fair, in English Canton Fair (Canton is an obsolete European name for the province of Guangdong, of which Guangzhou is the center).

The fair takes place in the huge Pazhou Exhibition Center (Guangzhou, Yuejiang Zhonglu St., 380). The official website of the exhibition is cantonfair.org.cn, where you can also issue an invitation, register, and even order a Chinese visa. Exhibition call center phone number: +86-2028-888-999.

The exhibition is so extensive that you need to go with a firmly chosen goal - for example, presenting oneself as an importer of such and such a product– otherwise you can “drown” in the abundance of information.

In addition, major exhibitions and fairs of Chinese goods continuously take place in Shanghai.

Also, many suppliers can be found on the largest wholesale markets countries: in the eastern Chinese metropolis Yiwu(Yiwu, 义乌), in the same Guangzhou (White Horse clothing market, 白马服装批发市场) and in Beijing (Yabaolu market, 雅宝路; more precisely, this is no longer a wholesale market, but trading enterprises in its place along Yabaolu Street).

Conducting business with China without visiting this country and personal negotiations is not recommended.

Today, China is one of the world's largest producers and in recent years has acquired the status of one of the world's trading centers. Taking this into account, not only large companies, but also individuals want to do business directly with China - it is profitable, brings good profits and pays off in a short period of time.

A novice businessman may have questions: how to do business with China, where to find a supplier and how to establish contacts with him, what specific business activities can be undertaken with China, etc. We will try to consider these questions in detail and give answers to them for our readers.

How to start a business with China from scratch?

In order to start any business, and especially with foreign companies, you need to have start-up capital. This is the initial step, which will subsequently determine the volume of business, the number of suppliers and possible options for supplying goods. This point will not raise questions - the reader will independently determine his own capabilities. And we will tell you about the advantages of doing business with China and how you can find a supplier.

It is not necessary to go to China to purchase small quantities of goods.

What are the advantages of working with the Middle Kingdom?

To begin with, let’s look at the most important advantages of running a business selling goods from China:

Among the secondary advantages are:

Ability to search for analogues. This point is in addition to the previous third point: there are a number of branded products, the cost of which is very high. In China you can easily find high-quality and reliable replicas that are not much different from the originals.
Possible discounts, bonuses, etc.. In case of long-term cooperation with suppliers from China, a businessman can receive permanent discounts and other pleasant bonuses.

We are looking for a supplier

Successfully starting a business with China largely depends on your counterparties. For beginners, it may seem that searching for suppliers several thousand kilometers away is a very difficult task. We will answer - not today, when everyone has access to the Internet.

There are many search options. For example, you can use international online platforms where they sell goods from China - Alibaba, Aliexpress, etc.

Advanced users who know English or Chinese can search in the largest Chinese search engine Baidu or use the standard Google search engine. For more information about finding partners and suppliers in China, we recommend that you read the information in the corresponding article.

Main business areas

Domestic businessmen can choose any direction of business - the range and variety of goods allow them to engage in any business. We will not list all types of activities - we will note only two main areas - import and export.

Import of goods and equipment from China

Import of Chinese goods is much more popular than export. Includes the purchase of goods in China and their subsequent shipment to the homeland. In this case, a businessman can choose absolutely any goods to sell - in China you will find what to sell in your country. In addition, there is the possibility of purchasing targeted equipment. Most of the well-known technical/technological brands are produced in China - labor costs in the market are low, and quality control in factories is very high.

In order to import goods, you need to find a supplier and negotiate with him about the products, which will then be transported to the Russian Federation. The information is in another article. After this, you need to select the payment instruments with which payment will be made. Today, entrepreneurs do not need to go to China to purchase small, trial lots, but if large amounts are involved, it is imperative to visit suppliers.

The choice of goods on the Chinese market is simply huge.

Export of goods to China

Ensuring the export of goods and raw materials to China is much more difficult than organizing imports. In this case, there are both advantages and disadvantages: exporting goods and raw materials is very difficult - numerous legislative (rather, bureaucratic) restrictions interfere and, of course, it is very difficult to find large wholesale buyers (there is no point in engaging in this type of activity in small volumes - this will cause losses).

Finding a reliable business partner in China still remains a task that only a highly specialized specialist can do. China is such a specific country that the simple rules of remote cooperation, which we are all so accustomed to when working with European and North American countries, do not apply here and, unfortunately, are unlikely to work. When searching for a business partner in Europe, there is no easier option than simply entering the required parameters into Google, viewing the links of suppliers, contacting them and starting working together. When working with China, it often happens as in the proverb - the miser pays twice.

Search for partners in China

If you are a medium or large entrepreneur aimed at long-term cooperation with large volumes of purchases, we strongly do not recommend searching for partners in China for business on sites like
Alibaba, Taobao, Made-in-China and the like. These trading platforms are clearly suitable only for small buyers, for whom they were created. For small entrepreneurs, this is simply an irreplaceable option for purchasing in China. Unfortunately, they also have to be careful, since today, even such a good initiative, Chinese scammers have managed to ruin it. Only about 10% of the Chinese manufacturers represented there are bona fide and, after all, have real production. The rest are resellers, posing as various directors and their deputies, or simply scammers. Some will be able to figure out the tricks of pseudo business partners, some will just be lucky, others will lose time and money.

We recommend choosing one of two options for finding a business partner in China: visiting one of the many industry exhibitions in China or using an official intermediary in doing business with China. Let's look at the strengths of both options.

How to find business partners in China yourself

The only correct solution here would be visiting an industry exhibition in China. Here you will meet real manufacturers, not
intermediaries-resellers. There is probably not a day in the year (maybe with the exception of Chinese New Year) when there are not one to ten exhibitions taking place in China at the same time. In addition to the most famous of them (Shanghai Expo or Canton Fair), there are exhibitions specializing in absolutely all market segments. It is very easy to find out about them and become a participant by contacting a company specializing in working with the PRC or a regular travel agency.

When planning a trip to an exhibition in China, it is advisable to buy a return ticket three to four days after the end of the exhibition. This time can be spent visiting Chinese manufacturers that interest you. Thus, without delaying for long, immediately discuss and sign the agreement.

ARKES will help you find a partner in China

Unfortunately, even after visiting the exhibition, you do not have the opportunity to get acquainted with all the manufacturers in this industry. Participation in the exhibition is not cheap, and many plants and factories that already have a sufficient number of clients, or simply do not consider participation in it profitable, are not represented at it. It is almost impossible to find websites of real manufacturers on the Internet and contact them, since, unfortunately, the level of English proficiency of Chinese managers and management leaves no chance of being found and heard.

The emergence of Russian partner companies for doing business with China is due precisely to this still difficult to bridge gap between the growing desire of Russian entrepreneurs to work with China and the lack of an established scheme for finding and working with Chinese manufacturers. One of the first companies to help improve business efficiency in China was ARCES.

For more than 10 years we have been reliable representative in China interests
dozens of Russian companies. Most of our clients are regular Russian partners; we have been working with them for years. We analyze the market of Chinese manufacturers, select potentially interesting partners for your business with China, carry out verification or audit of their enterprises, develop and negotiate a contract, place an order, inspect production and control product quality, clear customs and deliver cargo from China to Russia.

Our main advantage is our ten years of experience working with China. All of our employees have not only perfectly studied the Chinese language and culture, but are also highly specialized in various sectors of the economy, which allows them to select business partners in China and control the production of products at a high professional level. Having an office in China allows us to quickly respond to any customer wishes, immediately resolve force majeure situations and personally be present at all shipments of goods, checking the quality of the products produced. We have thoroughly studied Chinese legislation, the document flow system and the pitfalls of standard contracts with Chinese manufacturers. Leave a request or contact our specialist, and we will take care of all questions regarding the development and expansion of your business in China.

In China, you can work according to one of four main schemes:

“themselves with a mustache”;
working with a person-company;
working with a partner company;
opening your own office.

All 4 types of schemes involve different costs, transaction costs and the ability to transfer risk and responsibility for delivery.

The simplest, and also the most common among small and medium-sized businesses, scheme is “themselves with a mustache.” A businessman himself flies to China, hires a local translator, visits existing enterprises, selects and concludes a contract with a supplier. Actually, there is simply no partner in China in this scheme. The translator doesn't count. The risks (in terms of product quality, payment, timing, reliability of the supplier, etc.) in such a scheme are colossal, but this is the cheapest option.

The second scheme is working with a person-company. The purchasing company is growing, and it is becoming difficult for the owner to control all processes remotely. He hires a special person (representative) who lives in China and helps the business reduce the risks of quality and delay, but not completely eliminate them. Such specialized agents can be found on the Internet, for example, on the “Agent in China” or “Eastern Hemisphere” websites. This is no longer just a translator, this is a full-fledged remote employee of the company. Most businessmen quickly switch from the first work scheme to the second. The second scheme is a little more expensive than the first, but already reduces some of the risks in terms of quality and delivery time. But there is another problem: the company person may get sick or simply not be able to cope with his responsibilities. The second scheme is suitable for entrepreneurs who are already working with China, but have not achieved large turnover. They must understand all the risks involved.

The third scheme is to open your own division with an office, employees and internal supervisors of the production and procurement process.

The fourth way is the help of professional partner companies. This is an absolutely normal phenomenon, such as outsourcing accounting or legal services.

In scheme No. 3, the purchasing company receives b O greater operational control, but at the same time bears all the risks. If your employee makes a mistake, you can deprive him of his bonus, but you will not be able to reimburse the costs. In the case of outsourcing, most risks, including financial ones, fall on the shoulders of the partner company.

All four schemes are working. The first and second are the lot of micro and small businesses, which do not need to maintain a separate department. Scheme No. 3 and No. 4 are already suitable for large small, medium and large businesses.

How to find a supplier in China?

You can find a supplier on specialized sites on the Internet: Alibaba.com, Made-in-China.com, GlobalSources.com, Gongchang.com. If you know Chinese, you can also use Chinese Alibaba - 1688.com

The second huge block is open sources: Yandex, Google, Baidu, Taobao. The latest resource contains high-quality photographs of the goods, where you can also see what is actively sold within China itself, and which suppliers are popular there.

The third reliable source of suppliers is general and specialized exhibitions. The only problem is their number: every day there are 10 exhibitions taking place in China, so it’s very difficult to know which one you need to attend. The most famous exhibition in China is the Canton Exhibition. I have already been there six times and realized that it is only possible to make first acquaintances and get a general idea of how huge and diverse China is. To find a supplier, it is worth going to special exhibitions; as a rule, they are held twice a year. But which ones should we go to?

For example, you are interested in furniture. There is an exhibition in Guangzhou (in March) and in Dongguan (in early April). If you don’t know in advance that the last one is the coolest, you may not get into it. Because Dongguan is a suburb of Guangzhou, the city is smaller in size, and many may decide that they should go to Guangzhou.

Or take, for example, the textile industry. There is an exhibition in the center of textile production in China - in the city of Shaoxing. This is a very bad exhibition, almost no local manufacturers take part in it, because it is not quoted on the international market. If you want to find a supplier from Shaoxing, go to a textile exhibition in Guangzhou or Shanghai.

Another supplier can be found through the chambers of commerce and industry of Russia and China. But the best way is through warm ties with the Chinese. “Dear Mr. Wang, we have been working on headphones for three years, tell me where I can buy good quality child seats.” Mr. Wang will be happy to tell you, and even if he doesn’t know anything about child seats, he will ask his friends, because it is important for him to maintain a good relationship with you.

In total, more than 10 supplier search channels can be identified. But in 90% of cases, these 5 sources are enough to find reliable suppliers.

How to check a Chinese supplier?

The simplest and most clumsy way is to request the statutory documents, translate them into Russian and check the company in the database. Search for a supplier using Alibaba's open database. There are often videos from the enterprise there. If we conclude contracts, then our managers go to the factory before concluding a contract to check reliability and agree on working conditions. What happens is something like this: the analytics department in Shanghai conducts a market analysis of the desired product for 15-20 manufacturers, which are ranked in a special way, and based on the best 3-4 factories, an offer is made to the client. If the client is “in business” (that is, all the conditions from the three “price, quality, terms” satisfied him), then our managers personally visit 3-4 factories. The purpose of the audit is not just to check everything, but also to get to know the manager who will conduct procurement from the factory, the production manager, the head of the company, and build relationships with future partners.

In China, relationships are built first and contracts are concluded later. In general, the agreement in China means nothing. The Chinese sign documents of 30-40 pages without looking. For the Chinese, a contract is not the ultimate truth. Sometimes you can threaten them with a contract, but often it doesn't work.

If you do not have the right relationship with your Chinese partner, there is little chance of success. In China, it is necessary to build relationships with all players in the supply chain.

How to build relationships in China?

In China, there is a system of personal relationships called “guanxi”, the basic principle of which is the concept of “face”. “Face” in China is the outer part of a person. For a Chinese, losing “face” is tantamount to a social tragedy. If a Chinese understands that you can somehow ruin his “face,” he will make every effort to stop you. It's funny that "foreigner" in Chinese sounds like "laowai", the literal translation of this word is "overseas devil".

Three years ago, our company Xiao Long Group signed a substantial contract for the purchase of more than 10 containers of motorcycle and bicycle equipment to Belarus. The situation occurred during a banquet, everyone was relaxed. And so the Chinese manager makes a toast: “I know what you have in Russia ( approx. author: for the Chinese, often all countries of the former USSR are Russia), 3 is a lucky number. My daughter was born 3 days ago. And I ask you to order an additional 3 more containers, because 3 is a good number for you.” Our clients found themselves in an awkward position: these 3 containers were clearly unnecessary, but it was also inconvenient to refuse the supplier at the banquet.

With the next toast, on our advice, the Belarusians turned to the manager: “Dear Mr. Lee, we are ready to place an order for 3 containers, but we ask the director for a deferment of 90 days.” For the manufacturer, such a delay is unprofitable; the client actually takes the product for sale. For a Chinese company, the Belarusian client, although large, is not critically important. Its purchase is approximately 2-3% of the company’s total turnover. But a director in China cannot lose face in front of an employee, because he has a daughter, and he cannot refuse. This is how the manager, who wanted to play on feelings, unwittingly directed a blow at the director.

How to control a Chinese supplier?

In China, you have to control everything: give everyone tasks and control, go to a banquet and control, place production and control, trust and control, check and control. Even control of control must be controlled. If you don't do this, big problems can arise.

If you are going to place a large order, then it is necessary to conduct an audit of both the suppliers of raw materials and those who are already ordering products from the future partner (this is called a “360-degree assessment”). After prepayment and crediting of money to the factory account, the manufacturer purchases raw materials. It is imperative to check the quality of this raw material. Then look at the first finished batches, check the quality and timing in the middle and at the end of production. For some types of goods, it is mandatory to control loading.

For stationery pens, for example, the loading may not be controlled; such a product is difficult to replace. But to prevent water from coming instead of glue, and chalk instead of white chemical, it is imperative to check what the Chinese side is loading into containers. We had a case when we purchased a large batch of equipment from China for our client. During 3.5 months of work, we came for control 10 times, this does not count preliminary audits. But here we were talking about complex machines with different readiness periods. If the product is simple - a pen, a cup, a notepad, it can only be checked twice - in the middle and at the end.

How to dispute the delivery of the wrong product?

Officially - under the contract, but this is a disaster for orders less than $50,000. And even if O For larger volumes it will be difficult to return the money. Therefore, in 99% of cases, it is almost impossible to prove that the product has been replaced. This is provided that the goods were shipped without prior inspection.

If you still want to try, then you should act like this. First, we need to figure out where the replacement could have occurred. We need to check the container number to see if it left the factory, and check the seals that are attached. In practice, all this can be repainted, repainted and remade. Look at the gaps in delivery: where the container was delayed, for what reason, for how many days.

In most cases, the goods are changed by the Chinese themselves. And you can prove this fact only if you were personally present during the loading. Substitution of goods occurred especially often during the 2008 crisis. Nowadays you rarely encounter this; after all, the Chinese have begun to care about their reputation. But when businessmen are trying to save money, a Chinese factory can give them a surprise.

How can I change supplier?

The difficulty of switching suppliers depends on the structure of the industry. For example, in the field of household chemicals there is clanism, where manufacturers know each other and it is easier for them to cheat. One manufacturer can tell another: “We replaced one solution with another, but he carries it around for six months and doesn’t notice, we replaced the bottle, the box, and ultimately reduced the cost from $100 to $50, and you can do the same.” Clanism also exists in the textile industry, but here you can simply change the province and not work with the clan with which you had problems.

We had experience changing suppliers in electronics. There, the Chinese partner several times brought us 4% of defects instead of the agreed upon 1%. We had strict obligations to the client in Russia; we could not work under such conditions.

You can reduce risks in terms of quality and timing by diversification: break a large batch of goods into several small ones and place them in different factories. However, be prepared to pay more. But you will definitely be freed from the risks of supplier bankruptcy.