There are up and coming countries that are trying to take China’s place and get a “piece” of that development that PRC received starting from the early 80s. The question is if you are a small or medium level buyer who already sourced from China before or just started thinking about it what should you do and where should you buy from?
For now
the one major advantage India, Vietnam and Indonesia have is cheaper labour, but that’s pretty much it. I say for now, at least for another 10 years, stick with China. Chinese manufacturers by now have extensive experience of working in an international business arena, they know how to deal with foreigners, and they are experienced, simply put most of the issues you might face have already presented themselves in the past and were dealt with and resolved in China.
Manufacturing community in China has been formed for years, and all the factories have their Guan Xi (close business/friendly relationships and contacts) and know where and how to get anything that you need.
The transportation system is a huge plus point for China. You want to ship well by anything, and it is available in China. You want to get your products in 1 week, no problem. You want to have a cheaper shipping method, which will take longer but will save you a lot of money, you are the boss. Transport, logistics, agents, brokers anyone and anything related to shipping can be all worked out within a day.
Innovation is the happening scene in China. In cities like Shenzhen, you can find start-up hubs that come up with new ideas every day and make those ideas come true within weeks. You do not even need to ask your suppliers for ideas for example for an Amazon PL product. Your supplier will send you huge catalogues that will be updated every month.
Time to recap
China is still the way to go! Especially if you are a small or medium-sized buyer who is trying to develop the business with as little issues on the way as possible. China is becoming more expensive, and sometimes suppliers can be a bit rude, but at the end of the day, they pretty much have everything worked out. If you want to you don’t need to do anything except two things.
First, you find an agent who will do everything for you and second you tell that agent what product do you want, and he/she will arrange for everything afterwards. Of course, most of us prefer to be more involved because we want to have the best for the money we pay and in China it is possible.
Second, SEA (South East Asia) is large and has a tremendous potential in growth especially in the countries I have mentioned above. However, at the moment we can see that some basic issues have to be resolved. The ones that are important to mention are infrastructure development, workers training, supply chain development
SMFlink willing to be your problem agent to help you to solve all the questions you will face. And will find the best solution for you long term business. As we trust every dream can be come true.