You are a company, selling good products in your country. You have enough good results, so together with the decision-makers team, you decide to expand your business to other countries. If you’re reading this, it means you’re interested in stepping into the Chinese market. Your products have to be distributed in China, but you don’t have the necessary sources to make it by yourself. At this point, you might start searching for a partner, for a distributor.

China is a huge market with a lot of potential for your company. Finding a distributor in China is not hard, but your goals are to find a good partner for long term successful collaboration.

What’s the real value of a good partnership with a distributor?

In the long run, it’s a very big difference. If you find “just quickly, a simple distributor”, you might find yourself in a bad situation after a while. Examples can be: they are not representing your product so well, not growing sales numbers, even worse – bad impact on your brand in China, etc.

What’s the key to find the right distributor or partner in China?

There are multiple ways to do it. For example by trade fairs, referrals, or service providers. Every way might work or not. The only thing is to always ask the right questions and to get the answers verified. 

Your future partner must understand your product, your company strategy, and your unique selling points. This is a challenge, to find distributors in China who are willing to pay attention to these details.

The most important thing with all the distributor partnership is to have the right control over your brand while working together with distributors/retailers. This is a real challenge in China.

Ok, let’s see where you can find Chinese distributors? 

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In the first place referrals from contacts are always a good start, but usually, it’s hard and time-consuming to create a professional network to have the right referrals.

Besides that, there are many quality trade fairs in China.  You can find here a list of Trade Fairs in China.

There is another way too, that use the help of Chambers of Commerce in your country. But they are not always professional in your industry so you might find their help not so pragmatic.

Finding distributors in your industry might work also with the method to make a competitor’s analysis online/ in social media and try to get in touch with them. Finding similar products to yours and researching who is selling them, might help you to find new distributors.

If you found potential distributor partners, don’t forget to ask the right questions:

• How long have they been in business?

Everybody asks this question. For many companies is a crucial point the experience/time in the business. Of course, this is important because if they are for a longer time in business, they can have more connections and more experience in the market. But there’s another perspective: a younger distributor company can also be a very good partner. They focus more on their client, motivation could be better in them and the price you can negotiate would be better. These are the pros. Of course, they might have less experience and connections, but the growing curve can be really good, even like that.

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• Do they carry other foreign brands? Which ones?

It’s important to know how many similar brands are working with the potential distributor partner. You can find really good insights from researching the other brands results in the market. This can be a good point when you make the final decision. From another part, you should make sure that there will be a differentiation point between your brand and other similar brands they carry. It’s always important to have the right dedication from the distributor toward your products.

• How many years’ experience do they have in your industry?

This is similar to how long have they been in business, just a bit more focusing on the industry and specific experience. You may ask them about some success stories.

• What’s their traffic?

Ask this to know if the way they think and practice business in China it’s matching with your plans and imagination. The popularity of carried brands and how they can distribute their products it’s a bit representative of the traffic number. 

• What are their office locations and which of those represent their main market?

This is an administrative question, which is important for you when planning the transport or personal meetings. You should also ask what is the range of their product distribution over China.

• Which market segments are they strong in?
• How do they usually manage the transport of foreign products?
• And a last question: Ask if they like your product? Do they see potential in it? and if they see they can also win on the partnership with your company. (Because distributors too are always focusing on earnings)

When starting the conversation with the distributor you’ll see their level of english and the communication style. This is something you might consider also, because for a good relationship it’s important to have the right way to communicate effectively. 

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Ok, if you asked these questions, you might think that everything is ready to go. There are some other details you should make sure that are okay. First don’t miss checking if your potential distributor is legitimate and able to legally be your partner, as you are a foreign brand. Another part is, to negotiate with them the after-sales services. Usually, distributors tend to give a lower quality in after-sales procedures. If you would like to have your brand reputation on the Chinese market, make sure that your customers are treated well even when they are not satisfied or they found any issue with your products.

All in all, make sure to find the right distributor for your industry, go through these steps, and be careful with every detail and even more. Sometimes it’s better to use a platform or an intermediary company that can give you safety in negotiation with the wanted distributor.

Take all the necessary precautions, to eliminate any distributor who doesn’t fit your company.