Global B2B procurement trading service platform: Made-in-China

Table of Contents

As a buyer, if you want to trade with Chinese suppliers, the platforms that come to mind first might be Alibaba.com, Global Sources, Made-in-China, DHgate, TradeKey, etc.

Although there are many B2B platforms in China, few truly generate significant traffic, customers, and orders. Here we recommend for you the three most commonly used platforms by global buyers: Alibaba（http://alibaba.com）、MIC（http://Made-in-China.com）, and GlobalSources（http://GlobalSources.com.cn). We previously introduced Alibaba. Today, let’s focus on “Made-in-China”.

 

What is “Made-in-China”?

Made-in-China.com is a globally renowned B2B e-commerce platform. Founded in 1998, it has a history of more than 20 years. It is a one-stop foreign trade service platform dedicated to connecting Chinese manufacturers with global buyers. Compared with other platforms, MADEin-China has distinct characteristics, especially in the field of industrial products (machinery and equipment, components), where it has an absolute advantage. Most of the buyers on the platform are professional purchasers.

For Made-in-China, there are strict requirements and review mechanisms for entry:

  • To enter the platform, you need to provide a business license, proof of a fixed office location, trade documents, and on-site review reports from authoritative institutions. If it is a sensitive industry, additional special qualifications are also required.

The platform also has a precise classification of the membership levels for manufacturers:

  • Made-in-china.com implements a tiered membership system, mainly divided into free members, gold members, and diamond members.
  • Free members can join at zero cost, but they lack certification marks and thus have a relatively low level of trust from buyers.
  • Both Gold members and Diamond members need to pay membership fees. The membership fees differ, the levels are not the same, and the platform permissions obtained by manufacturers also vary. The common point of these two membership levels is that they need to be audited and certified on-site by an authoritative third-party institution before going online (SGS certification service). They have a unique certification report number, and the enterprise certification information can also be synchronously queried on the SGS/TU/BV official websites. There will be a certification mark displayed on the MIC platform, which is easy to distinguish and is trusted by buyers.

 

Why choose “Made-in-China”?

  1. Supplier quality assurance: Manufacturers on Made-in-China.com have a strict review and screening mechanism, which, to a certain extent, guarantees the quality of suppliers. 94% of the suppliers on the platform are star-certified enterprises. They have undergone triple reviews of business licenses, production capacity, and trade records, as well as on-site certifications from authoritative institutions such as SGS/BV/TUV. Moreover, VR factory inspection services are provided, significantly reducing the procurement risks for foreign buyers.
  2. Precise supplier resources: The platform focuses on in-depth development in vertical fields. “Made in China” is most renowned in the industrial products and raw materials sectors, covering multiple categories and over 3,600 subcategories of products (such as machinery, electronics, building materials, chemicals, etc.), making it particularly suitable for large-scale B-end procurement needs. If you happen to have demands in industrial manufacturing, then MIC will be your best choice.   
  3. Efficient procurement process: MIC offers intelligent matching tools. When buyers do not have precise requirements for suppliers and brands, the AI MIC system can automatically recommend corresponding suppliers based on their procurement needs, thereby reducing the screening time. After the target supplier is confirmed, the system will connect the buyer and the seller in a one-on-one manner. The inquiry sent by the buyer will be directly sent to the target supplier’s email to prevent the information from being forwarded to other competitors and protect the buyer’s purchasing privacy.
  4. Low transaction costs: MIC does not charge transaction commissions but only a withdrawal fee of 0.1%. Compared with the commission of 2% to 3% and the withdrawal fee of 0.2% on Alibaba International Station, the transaction cost is lower.
  5. Order Guarantee Service: Made-in-China.com has established a leading order guarantee system in the B2B field through “STS fund custody + large-scale manual review + SGS mandatory inspection + logistics trajectory penetration”.
    • After the buyer makes the payment, the platform will temporarily hold the goods, and the supplier cannot use the funds before the goods are dispatched.
    • The deposit and balance release on the platform: After the buyer confirms the shipping voucher, the deposit will be released to the supplier. If there are no objections within 7 days after the buyer receives the goods, the remaining balance will be automatically released by the system.
    • If there are any objections to the goods, the buyer can freeze the balance payment and apply for arbitration.
    • After the supplier delivers the goods, it is necessary to upload the official certificate of the logistics provider (such as SF Express instead of SF Express(CN)) to the background; otherwise, it will be regarded as an invalid shipment.
    • The platform is connected to the logistics system, allowing buyers to view the real-time location of their goods. It supports various transportation methods such as express delivery, air freight, and sea freight routes.
    • When the buyer receives goods with quality, quantity, or other defects, they can keep the proof and file a complaint in the background. The platform will intervene in the negotiation within 72 hours. After the negotiation is successful, the buyer and the seller will disburse the loan or refund the money according to the agreement, based on the determination. When the buyer and seller can not reach an agreement through consultation, a third-party testing arbitration will be initiated, and the transfer of funds will be enforced compulsorily based on the result of the SGS report’s ruling.
  6. Trading permission restrictions and penalty for breach of contract: Only Diamond members or gold members with more than two years of service can activate online trading services, reducing the risk of fraud.
    • If the supplier delays the shipment, the platform will trigger the seller’s penalty mechanism, requiring the seller to compensate the buyer at 0.5% of the daily order amount. In severe cases, the account will be closed.

 

How to buy products through “Made-in-China”?

 

How to find products?

  1. Use keywords to search for the products you need on the MIC homepage. On the result page, you can select the product/supplier/factory list
  2. Use the directory on the left to select products that are suitable for situations where there are clear categories but no explicit product requirements.
  3. When posting RFQ requirements in the background, detailed product information and requirements need to be filled in. This will enable you to receive as accurate quotations from suppliers as possible and reduce the screening time.

 

How to screen suppliers?

  1. The geographical distribution of various industries in China is concentrated, which is a concentrated manifestation of regional specialization and economies of scale.For example, electronic information products are mainly concentrated in regions such as the Pearl River Delta (Shenzhen, Dongguan) and the Yangtze River Delta (Shanghai, Suzhou). Textile and garment products are mainly concentrated in the southeast coastal areas (Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Fujian), and the new central and western regions (Henan, Xinjiang, and other places).

    Therefore, when you have searched for a specific type of product, you can analyze in which regions the number of suppliers for these products is the largest, which means that the industrial chain of this product is located there.

  2. The type of membership is also one of the manifestations of a supplier’s strength. Give priority to choosing suppliers with the “TOPRANK” logo or the “Diamond” logo. These are high-quality merchants that have been reviewed and certified by the platform. It is recommended to prioritize transactions with these merchants.
  3. After entering the supplier’s store, you can roughly browse the product categories the supplier is selling. If a supplier’s products span multiple categories, it is highly likely that the supplier is an intermediary. The vertical field expertise of the supplier is also a criterion for measuring whether to establish a cooperative relationship.
  4. The display of the company’s strength is also a factor to be referred to during the screening process. The strength of the supplier can be judged through the real scene of the factory, the video of the workshop, and the reference photos.

 

How to contact the supplier?

Click on the link of the product you need to consult, enter the page, and select “Contact Supplier” or “Chat” to initiate a chat.

Communication skills：

  1. All the questions you have doubts about can be asked of the supplier, and you can also test the supplier’s professionalism through professional questions. A good supplier will patiently answer all your questions and offer constructive suggestions. If some suppliers do not reply to the questions for a long time, it can be ruled out. Service attitude is also a major influencing factor for the smoothness of cooperation.
  2. Collect as many quotations from different suppliers as possible, excluding the lowest and highest prices. The normal price is usually between the two. You can lower the cost of the supplier you have selected through the price difference.

Of course, it cannot be ruled out that some suppliers want to offer low-price promotions. When you choose a low-price supplier, you should verify the supplier step by step before making an order. Meanwhile, before placing a large order, you can test the quality of the products by purchasing samples.