Recently updated on October 8th, 2017 at 07:04 pm
The Pearl River Delta, lying in the southern province of Guangdong with a short trip away from Hongkong and Macau, is the heartland of China’s manufacturing. In spite of the gradual industrialization of other interior provinces in China, the Pearl River Delta is still considered as the initial choice fro most companies while sourcing from China.
Most of the manufacturing belt is lies between the two megacities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen, where there are thousands of factories and full sets of facilities.
The increasing production capacity and cost savings make outsourcing to China a second to none decision for many foreign business. Massive developed capacity for manufacturing is in place and large groups of skilled workforce have topped it as an ideal place for manufacturing. Whatever products you are looking for, there are a lot of factories out there for you to choose from.
This is certainly the bright aspect of manufacturing in China, however, what not said about China is that the market place can be dangerous for the unwary customers.
The terrible situations of the factories have usually been reported a few years ago, now it is not that common, but it still exits. Child labor? The salary is so low and condition so terrible that some workers commit suicide. Massive pollution has done great damages to local environment and local people. Shoddy goods that can pose great danger to users’ health. All these are problems identified with China manufacturing for the past years.
Inspecting the factory regularly and adequately is a good option to avoid these problems. However, what are the barriers for successfully conducting factory inspection?
1. Language barrier
China has the lowest English literacy rate than any other nation in the earth. Don’t think that English is spoken around the world, it isn’t true in China at all. Cantonese and Mandarin are two main languages speaking in the Pearl River Delta. Sometimes you can’t rely on the representatives from the supplier’s side to act as interpreter for you. If you can’t speak Mandarin or Cantonese, it is better to hire an experienced Guangzhou interpreter to be on your side.
2. Culture barrier
Asian culture differs a lot from Western business culture. A key difference is “saving face” which means the Chinese factory may be well reversed with the truth but to save them public embarrassment, they would likely to say “yes” even if they mean “no”. In such circumstances, experienced Guangzhou translator can help you a lot to avoid misunderstands.
3. Background Check
It can be hard to check the background of a supplier in a country that is famous for copying anything. You have to know whether the business license or for export permission is valid or not.
4. Information shortage
There is simply no place to check the credibility of the supplier that can help you make your decision. No customer review, no customer protection. You can hire reliable local buying agents in Guangzhou or Shenzhen to assist in making the decisions.
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