Where we source
The Chinese industrial clusters behind the categories we work in — mapped, and honest about what we have not yet visited.
China is not one manufacturing country. It is a set of clusters, and the
cluster decides what a product can be, how fast it can be developed and
what it should cost. A storage box from one region and an identical-looking
storage box from another are not the same product, and the price difference
is usually real rather than a bargain.
What this page is for: knowing which cluster makes your
product is the first useful step in sourcing it. It also tells you which
questions to ask — the common failure in each cluster is different.
Which part of China makes what.
Filter by the category you are buying, or click into a province to see its
cities and counties. The map shows industrial clusters, not suppliers.
Industrial belt data: “Cross-border e-commerce + industrial belt”
high-quality development report, Chinese Academy of International
Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFCOM), April 2024 — 87 industrial belts.
Provincial assignments corrected against official administrative divisions.
The map requires JavaScript. The cluster information is
also described in the category pages: industries.
The regions behind our three main categories.
Zhejiang
Yiwu for small consumer goods, seasonal decoration and accessories;
Yongkang for hardware and metal goods; Pinghu and Haining for textile and
bag production; the Hangzhou-Ningbo corridor for general household goods.
Closest to us. In-person visits are practical.
Jiangsu
Textile and home textile production, plastic household goods and
injection-moulded items, with a deep mould and tooling supply chain that
shortens development time for a new design.
Strong for storage and household plastics.
Fujian & Guangdong
Fujian for structured bags, footwear and sportswear. Guangdong for
electronics, lighting and toys — the last of which we decline.
Furthest from us. Site visits take planning.
Clusters, not suppliers.
This distinction is deliberate and worth explaining, because it is
unusual for a sourcing site.
We publish which region makes what, because that is knowledge you can use
with or without us. We do not publish a directory of factories, and we do
not name the supplier behind your order. Your quotation, invoice and
shipping documents are issued by us.
The practical effect is that there is one counterparty accountable to you,
in a jurisdiction you can reach, instead of a factory in another country
that you have never met and cannot easily pursue.
Why we describe our own limitations.
On our supplier records: we are a newly established
sourcing company and we are still building our verified supplier list.
Where a supplier has been visited in person or has completed a trial order
with us, that is recorded internally. Where it has not, we treat the
relationship as unverified and we do not imply otherwise on this site.
A cluster exists whether or not we have worked in it. Claiming familiarity
we have not earned would be the easiest lie on this page, and the easiest
one for a buyer to catch.
Tell us the product, and we will tell you the cluster.
Send the item and we will come back with where it is made, what the common
failure in that cluster is, and what it should cost.