For international buyers sourcing from Chinese manufacturers, these events remain one of the most effective ways to find reliable suppliers, inspect products firsthand and build the kind of relationships that are difficult to establish over email or video call.

But with so many exhibitions on the calendar, choosing the right one matters. Attend the wrong fair and you will waste time, travel budget and energy walking halls full of products that have nothing to do with your business. Attend the right one and you could walk away with vetted suppliers, competitive pricing and a much clearer picture of what the market has to offer.

This guide breaks down the major China trade fairs by industry, explains how to pick the right event for your sourcing needs and offers practical tips for making the most of your visit.

Why Trade Fairs Still Matter for China Sourcing

Chinese trade fairs are large-scale exhibitions where Chinese manufacturers, exporters and service providers showcase their products to domestic and international buyers. These events range from massive, multi-industry exhibitions like the Canton Fair to highly specialised shows focused on a single sector such as textiles, electronics or furniture.

For international buyers, trade fairs serve three main purposes. First, supplier discovery. Walking a trade fair floor gives you access to hundreds or even thousands of manufacturers in a single location, many of whom do not have a significant online presence. Second, product verification. You can see, touch and compare products in person rather than relying on catalogue images and samples shipped across the world. Third, relationship building. Face-to-face meetings remain the most effective way to establish trust with Chinese suppliers, negotiate terms and gauge whether a manufacturer is the right fit for your business.

China’s trade fair ecosystem is the largest in the world. Events take place across major cities including Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing, with most concentrated in the manufacturing hubs of the Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta.

Why Choosing the Right Trade Fair Matters

Not all trade fairs are created equal. Some cover broad product categories and attract tens of thousands of exhibitors, while others are niche events with a few hundred booths. Choosing the wrong fair can mean spending thousands on flights, hotels and logistics only to find that the exhibitors are not relevant to your industry.

There are a few common pitfalls. Attending a generalist fair when you need specialist suppliers can leave you overwhelmed and without actionable leads. Visiting a smaller regional fair when you need access to a wide pool of manufacturers can limit your options. And timing matters too. Some fairs coincide with peak production seasons when factories are busiest, which can affect your ability to secure meetings or negotiate favourable terms.

This is where having someone on the ground with sourcing experience in China can make a big difference. At Kinyu, we often help international businesses identify the right exhibitions for their industry and make the most of their time in China.

Major Trade Fairs in China by Industry

Furniture Trade Fairs in China

China is the world’s largest furniture exporter, and the country’s furniture trade fairs reflect that scale.

China International Furniture Fair (CIFF) is one of the largest furniture exhibitions in the world. Held in Guangzhou in March and Shanghai in September, CIFF covers home furniture, office furniture, outdoor living, home decor and home textiles. The Guangzhou edition alone draws thousands of exhibitors from across China and internationally. CIFF is particularly strong for buyers sourcing mass-market and mid-range furniture, though it also features a growing design-led segment. For property developers, hotel groups and interior designers, it is an essential event.

Interzum Guangzhou runs alongside CIFF and focuses on furniture production, woodworking machinery and interior materials. If your interest is in the components and materials side of the furniture supply chain rather than finished products, this is the one to attend.

The Canton Fair also features a significant furniture and home decor segment in its second phase, offering a broader but less specialised selection.

Electronics Trade Fairs in China

China’s electronics manufacturing ecosystem is centred in the Pearl River Delta, and Shenzhen in particular. The city hosts several major electronics fairs throughout the year.

China Electronics Fair (CEF) is the country’s longest-running electronics exhibition, held since 1964. The Shenzhen edition typically takes place in April, covering electronic components, semiconductors, sensors, consumer electronics, smart home devices and emerging technologies like AI computing and IoT. With over 1,200 exhibitors, CEF is a comprehensive sourcing platform for buyers across the electronics supply chain.

China Information Technology Expo (CITE) runs alongside CEF in Shenzhen and focuses on information technology products and solutions, including smart terminals, robotics, wearables and data centre technologies.

Hong Kong Electronics Fair, organised by the HKTDC, is one of the largest electronics exhibitions in Asia. While technically across the border, it is easily accessible from Shenzhen and attracts a significant number of mainland Chinese manufacturers. It is particularly strong for consumer electronics and components.

ES SHOW in Shenzhen (typically held in October) is a dedicated electronics sourcing fair focused on components and materials for the electronics manufacturing and processing industry.

The Canton Fair’s first phase also covers electronics and household electrical appliances extensively.

Textile and Apparel Trade Fairs

China’s textile industry is vast, and the trade fair landscape reflects the diversity of the sector.

Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics is the flagship textile event in Asia. Organised by Messe Frankfurt, it runs twice a year with a spring edition (March) and an autumn edition (August), both at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai. With over 3,000 exhibitors spanning 190,000 square metres, it covers apparel fabrics, accessories, functional textiles and sustainable materials. It is the go-to event for fashion brands, garment manufacturers and textile traders sourcing fabrics and trims from China.

China International Trade Fair for Home Textiles (Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles) is the companion event for buyers sourcing bedding, curtains, upholstery fabrics and other home textile products. It typically runs in August alongside the apparel edition.

The Canton Fair’s third phase covers textiles, garments and accessories, providing a broader but less specialised alternative.

Industrial Trade Fairs in China

For buyers sourcing industrial products, machinery, hardware and tools, China hosts several heavyweight events.

China International Industry Fair (CIIF) is one of the country’s most important industrial exhibitions, held annually in Shanghai in October. CIIF consists of nine concurrent fairs covering industrial automation, robotics, metalworking, CNC machine tools, new materials, energy and environmental technologies. It attracts exhibitors and visitors from across the global manufacturing sector and is essential for anyone sourcing industrial equipment or components from China.

China International Hardware Show (CIHS) takes place in Shanghai in late September. Organised by Koelnmesse and the China National Hardware Association, it is the largest hardware fair in Asia and the second largest in the world after Cologne. CIHS covers power tools, hand tools, building hardware, fasteners, safety equipment and garden tools, with around 2,800 exhibitors.

China International Hardware Fair (CIHF) is a separate event held in Shanghai in March, covering a similar range of products with around 3,100 exhibitors and a strong focus on connecting international buyers with Chinese hardware manufacturers.

Find the Right Trade Fair and Suppliers with Kinyu

China’s trade fair ecosystem is enormous, and for international buyers it represents one of the best opportunities to find reliable manufacturing partners. But getting the most out of these events requires preparation, industry knowledge and, ideally, support from people who understand how sourcing in China actually works.

Kinyu is China’s leading supply chain-focused Employer of Record. We help international businesses build and manage sourcing teams on the ground in China, from procurement specialists and quality control inspectors to logistics managers and sourcing office setups. Whether you are attending your first trade fair or your 15th, our team can help you identify the right events, prepare for your visit and follow up with suppliers after the show.

If you are planning a sourcing trip to China and want to make the most of it, get in touch. We would love to hear from you.

The post A Guide to China Trade Fairs: How to Choose the Right Fair for Your Industry appeared first on Kinyu.

Part of the reason is that the plan contains few concrete mandates. Only about a third of its 20 key indicators are binding. Economist Adam Tooze compares it to the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals: it sets priorities and targets, but leaves the details to others.

In China’s case, those others are the ministries, provinces and municipalities that each draft their own plans based on the national document. The specific changes that matter most to employers, like shifts to social insurance rates or leave entitlements, will follow over the months and years ahead as lower-level plans are published.

Yet, what the national plan does provide is a clear direction of travel. And from that, it is possible to make some confident predictions about what China’s regulatory environment will look like for HR and payroll over the next five years.

Here is what we expect.

Prediction 1: Wage Floors Will Rise

The plan identifies raising household consumption as a share of GDP as one of its core goals. Its most employer-relevant lever for doing so is raising incomes.

National Development and Reform Commission Secretary-General Yuan Da confirmed this at a press briefing, adding that the government would formulate an income growth plan for urban and rural residents. But what will that actually look like?

The most direct intervention will be raising the minimum wage. Minimum wages are set at the city and provincial level, and Beijing has encouraged local governments to raise them to support consumption and wage growth. Most regions revise their minimums at least once every two years, and around half did so last year, according to Caixin.

Further increases seem likely. And when minimums rise, they tend to pull up wages for lower-paid workers more broadly.

For higher earners, direct intervention is unlikely. But officials have said they will “reform remuneration systems and improve wage consultation mechanisms.” In plain terms, this means creating more formal processes for workers to negotiate pay.

In China, workplace negotiations like this go through official unions, which are all part of the state-backed All-China Federation of Trade Unions. These unions have not historically pushed hard on pay. But the government could ask them to play a bigger role, which could mean more formal annual pay talks between workers and employers, particularly at foreign companies.

Beyond policy, broader economic trends point the same way. As China moves up the value chain into higher-skilled industries, competition for talent is intensifying and wages are rising regardless of government action.

Prediction 2: Social Insurance Costs Will Increase

China’s ageing population is another major focus of the plan. And funding elderly care and pensions is driving big changes to the social insurance system — the mandatory payroll contributions that employers and employees pay into to cover health care, pensions and unemployment. For employers, this is likely to be the most immediate cost pressure.

Two big changes are coming. The first is a new type of contribution. Since 2016, China has been testing a long-term care scheme in 49 cities, covering care for elderly and disabled people. It now covers more than 300 million people, and the government plans to roll it out nationwide by 2028. Employers will likely have to pay into this on top of their existing contributions, at rates set locally.

The second is pensions. A senior NDRC official said the government plans to gradually raise basic pension payments for urban and rural residents during the five-year plan. No one has said how this will be funded, but higher payouts have to be paid for somehow. And higher employer and employee contributions are the most likely answer.

Both measures come amid a sharper enforcement push. In 2025, China’s top court ruled that any agreement between employers and workers to waive or reduce social insurance contributions is invalid.

Prediction 3: More Parental Leave

The plan includes a push to raise China’s birth rate, under the banner of building a “childbirth-friendly society.”

One lever for achieving this is to improve the maternity leave system. Maternity leave provision remains uneven across China despite recent expansions. So we expect more cities and provinces to raise entitlements during the plan period, accompanied by new local subsidy schemes. Shanghai, for example, already offers social insurance subsidies that can halve employer contributions during a female employee’s maternity leave.

Paternity leave is another area to watch. Most provinces offer fathers 15 to 30 days, but there is no national standard.

Beyond that, analysis of the plan points to the introduction of shared parental leave, a separate entitlement that either parent can take. Some provinces already offer this, and more are likely to follow. A senior CPPCC member echoed this during this year’s “two sessions”, calling for reforms that encourage couples to share child care more equally. Proposals like this at the “two sessions” often lead to provincial or national action.

Prediction 4: Flexible Leave Arrangements Will Become More Common

China has also begun testing whether longer holidays can boost consumer spending, a trend we expect to see expand over the next five years.

The 2026 Spring Festival, for instance, was extended to a record nine days, which Xinhua described as a move to boost domestic consumption and public well-being. The 2026 government work report also proposes spring and autumn breaks for primary and secondary school students, similar to half-terms in the U.K. Several regions are already piloting these, largely as a way to get families travelling around China.

But this only works if parents can actually take time off, and that tension is already being discussed at the highest levels.

“If students get time off, but their parents don’t, how can they travel together?” Zhao Wanping, an National People’s Congress deputy, told Xinhua.

To address this, some advisers have called for stronger legal protections to ensure that taking time off does not hurt performance reviews or career prospects. Others have proposed linking employer compliance with leave rules to tax incentives or corporate credit scores. Employers should expect tighter rules around annual leave over the next five years.

What We Expect Over the 15th Five-Year Plan

To summarise:

• Wages: Minimum wages will rise, pulling up pay more broadly. Keep salaries competitive.
• Social insurance: A new long-term care contribution is coming and pension costs will rise. Make sure you are fully compliant.
• Parental leave: Maternity, paternity and shared parental leave entitlements will all expand.
• Annual leave: Expect stronger rules ensuring employees can actually take their leave.

The post What China’s 15th Five-Year Plan Means for Employers appeared first on Kinyu.

Eight countries closed their airspace within 48 hours of the U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran launching on Feb. 28. Dubai International, the world’s busiest airport for international passengers, took a direct hit from Iranian missiles. Doha and Abu Dhabi shut down. More than 21,000 flights were cancelled.

Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways, carriers that between them handle up to a quarter of all passenger capacity between Europe and Asia, were largely grounded.

The Baku Bottleneck

With Russian airspace closed to most Western carriers since the 2022 Ukraine invasion, and the southern corridor through Turkey, Iraq and Iran now blocked, the only viable route linking Europe to Asia for non-Russian-friendly airlines runs through a narrow strip of airspace above the Caucasus.

Flightradar24 data shows traffic through Azerbaijani airspace surging since the conflict began. But the corridor’s reliability was called sharply into question on March 5 when Iranian drones crossed the border and struck the terminal building at Nakhchivan International Airport in Azerbaijan’s exclave region, injuring two civilians. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev called it “an act of terror” and placed the country’s military on full combat readiness.

Azerbaijan closed its southern airspace in response. The main overflight routes through the north stayed open, but the point was made. This is not a stable corridor. Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a full-scale war in 2020 that shut large areas of airspace across the region. Border clashes in 2022 closed cross-border waypoints again.

Put simply: the Baku corridor is the world’s last functioning air bridge between Europe and Asia. And it runs through one of the most volatile border regions on the continent.

Passenger Fares and Route Chaos

For anyone who needs to travel to China for business, the immediate concern is cost. Fares on what remain of the available routes have surged. Cathay Pacific economy seats from Hong Kong to London sold out for days. When they reappeared, one-way tickets hit $6,850.

And fares are climbing not just because of demand to China. They’re climbing because airlines that fly to China are now absorbing traffic that has nothing to do with China.

For instance, Hong Kong is taking on a massive amount of traffic that would have flowed through Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi. For Australians and Kiwis heading to Europe, Cathay via Hong Kong, Singapore Airlines via Changi, or the Chinese carriers are really the only games in town right now. That means more competition for every seat transiting the region, whether you’re heading to Guangzhou or just passing through.

HSBC analysts predict Hong Kong premium-class yields could remain 30-40% above 2025 averages through the summer peak.

Those booking through Western carriers should also factor in the risk that this situation could deteriorate further at short notice. If the Baku corridor closes, Western airlines will have almost no viable route to Asia at all.

Anyone who absolutely needs to be in China on a specific date should probably fly with a Chinese carrier that can transit Russian airspace. Air China, China Eastern, China Southern and Hainan Airlines bypass the affected corridors entirely.

For businesses in South America with China operations, the transpacific route via North American hubs avoids the affected airspace entirely and is probably the most dependable option right now. Connecting through Los Angeles, San Francisco or Vancouver to pick up a direct Pacific crossing sidesteps the Middle East and Caucasus corridors altogether.

Broader Implication

However, the broader question for businesses with China operations goes beyond ticket prices. Two of the three major east-west air corridors have now failed in the space of four years. The third is a sliver of Caucasus airspace that just took a drone strike. Anybody with a China supply chain has spent the past five years learning that shipping routes are not as reliable as they once assumed. The same lesson now applies to air travel.

If a key supplier meeting, a Canton Fair visit or a factory audit depends on someone flying in from Europe next month, it is worth asking: what happens if they can’t get there? If the answer exposes a gap in your China operation, it might be time to stop assuming the flights will always be there, and start investing in people who are already where the work is.

The post Is the Last Air Route to Asia for European Airlines About to Close? appeared first on Kinyu.

The good news? Once you know the system, it’s perfectly manageable. This guide tells you exactly how to send USD to freelancers in China.

The $50,000 Annual Limit

Here’s where most guides get it wrong. Your freelancer can receive unlimited amounts of foreign currency from you. However, China limits them to converting $50,000 USD to Chinese yuan per calendar year without special approval from the currency regulator (SAFE).

This distinction matters:

• Paying $50,000 or less: Your freelancer receives it, converts it to yuan, no problems.
• Paying $75,000: Your freelancer receives all $75,000. They can convert $50,000 to yuan immediately, but must either keep the remaining $25,000 as USD or wait until Jan. 1 when their quota resets.
• Paying $100,000+: Same principle. They can receive it all, but conversion is limited to $50,000 per year.

When the limit does not apply

China’s permits exemptions for certain purposes, including educational expenses abroad, medical treatment and professional training. However, these exceptions are not relevant for most consulting or contract service payments. But these aren’t relevant for most consulting or contract work, so don’t count on them.

What this means for you:  For payments up to $50,000, there are essentially no complications: your freelancer receives, converts and spends without issues. Above that, it’s about conversion timing rather than whether they can receive the funds at all. If you’re planning a big project, have a quick conversation with them about how they want to handle the currency side.

How Much Paperwork? It Depends on the Amount

Beyond the conversion quota, there are documentation thresholds that determine how much paperwork your freelancer needs to provide.

Tax Compliance

Chinese banks now actively check that your freelancer declare their foreign income to the tax authorities. Chinese banks must verify tax compliance before processing international payments for services.

What your freelancer needs to do:

Bottom line: This isn’t your job to sort out, but do discuss timelines with your freelancer. If you’re planning a big project, factor in 4-6 weeks before that first payment lands.

How Payments Get Frozen (And How to Avoid It)

The scenario that concerns most clients is discovering their freelancer’s account has been frozen or the incoming wire placed on hold pending investigation. Here’s what usually triggers that:

• Informal or inconsistent documentation (WhatsApp messages don’t count as contracts)
• Payment amount much larger than the freelancer’s usual income pattern
• Multiple rapid payments without documented milestones
• Vague work descriptions
• No evidence of tax compliance
• Money routed through a third party instead of directly to the freelancer

How Long Will It Take to Send USD to a Freelancer in China?

A well-documented payment typically clears in 3-5 working days.

Allow 5-10 days if it’s your first transfer to this freelancer, it’s over $10,000, or you’re based in a country with strict compliance rules (U.K., EU, Canada, Australia).

For payments over $50,000 where your freelancer needs to convert everything and hasn’t yet sorted their SAFE approval, it’ll take about 4-6 weeks before they can expect the money to be fully accessible in yuan.

The Bottom Line

Paying freelancers in China is completely legal and plenty of businesses do it routinely.

The golden rule: formal, consistent documentation and tax compliance prevent delays. Shortcuts (informal invoices, vague contracts, missing tax filings) create friction that can hold up payment for weeks.

Put the effort in upfront with proper documentation, and you’ll build a smooth payment relationship that only gets easier over time.

The post How To Send USD to Freelancers in China appeared first on Kinyu.

If no one is watching the line during this window, you risk returning in January to a New Year hangover of shipping delays or quality defects.

While You’re Winding Down, China Is Speeding Up

Late December and January are the peak of the Chinese manufacturing calendar. Every factory is rushing to finish orders before the Chinese New Year shutdown, which usually sees the entire country close for almost a month.

Most factories see a massive spike in output in the 45 days leading up to Chinese New Year. When volume goes up this fast, quality control is often the first thing to be sacrificed to meet deadlines.

However, if you find a defect on Jan. 20, the factory may physically be open, but the people who actually know how to fix the problem (the skilled QC staff and line managers) are already on a train back to their home provinces. Your stock isn’t going anywhere until March.

Worse still, shipping rates can spike by 20–50% in the three weeks before Chinese New Year. If your production is delayed by just three days while you’re opening presents, it could cost you thousands in additional freight “rush” fees.

Why Eyes on the Ground Are Your Best Holiday Insurance

Having a dedicated team in China during the Christmas production peak is an effective way to keep your supply chain running smoothly.

Avoiding Quality Fade

The primary risk during the rush is “Quality Fade.” To speed up production, factories may compromise on materials or skip vital assembly steps. When overbooked, factories may also farm out orders to unvetted, lower-quality workshops. An on-site team ensures your product is actually made where you agreed, under the correct protocols.

Getting to the Front of the Queue

Factories are operating at 100% capacity over the holiday, and suppliers will prioritise the buyers who are visible and persistent. If you are just a name in an inbox, you are very easy to ignore when a larger, louder client comes knocking. A local team member can lobby for your production slots in person, ensuring your order isn’t pushed back.

Ensuring Your Goods Actually Leave the Port

Your logistics chain is at its most fragile when volume is highest. On-the-ground management is the only way to ensure your goods make it onto the plane or ship. Local teams work directly with truckers and forwarders to navigate local port bottlenecks that don’t show up on a remote dashboard.

How to Get On-the-Ground Support

Getting eyes on the factory floor in China doesn’t have to involve the bureaucratic nightmare of setting up a legal entity.

The China Desk offers a faster, smarter route that doesn’t involve losing your Christmas spirit to a mountain of red tape.

As an Employer of Record (EOR), we act as the legal employer for your staff in China. This means you can hire full-time or part-time experts without needing your own company on the ground.

You manage the strategy and the daily tasks; we handle the contracts, the complex local HR compliance, and the payroll. It’s like having a local office, but without the headache of actually building one.

Book a call with our team today to discuss how flexible, on-the-ground support can safeguard your 2026 supply chain! Merry Christmas!

The post Who Is Watching Your Supply Chain Over Christmas? appeared first on Kinyu.

Here is everything you need to know to ensure your shipment is legal, tax-efficient and priced correctly.

What are China Export Supervision Codes?

When your supplier ships goods out of China, they must declare a 4-digit Export Supervision Code (also called the Trade Mode Code) to Chinese Customs.

This code is the shipment’s ID card. It tells Customs exactly how the product is being traded, dictating two critical things:

1. Legality: It determines the required documentation and clearance procedures.
2. Taxes: It controls the tax implications for your supplier and, most importantly, their tax treatment eligibility. Some codes allow the supplier to claim back or avoid VAT. This directly affects the final price you pay.

The 2026 Code Cheat Sheet

China’s major export supervision codes fall into several categories based on trade type and tax treatment. However, it’s important to understand that the code alone isn’t a guarantee of tax relief. Even if the code (like 0110) allows for a VAT refund, the supplier must still meet several strict criteria:

• Taxpayer Status: They must be a “General VAT Taxpayer” (small-scale taxpayers usually don’t qualify for refunds).
• Documentation: They must hold valid VAT input invoices for all raw materials.
• Eligibility: The industry or product category must be eligible. Many are not! (e.g., Aluminum and copper have 0% refunds, while solar and batteries are often capped at 9%).
• Payment: The foreign exchange must be settled through official bank channels.

Traditional Export Trade

Best for: Established businesses importing bulk goods.

Cross-Border E-Commerce Export Codes

Best for: Dropshippers, Amazon sellers, and online retailers.

Specialized Trade

Best for: Small traders buying from wholesale markets.

Key Distinctions: VAT Refund vs. VAT Exemption

It’s easy to misunderstand the difference between these two tax treatments. Both reduce the supplier’s tax burden, but through different mechanisms:

VAT Refund (The “Discount” Model)

• Codes: 0110, 9710, 9810.
• How it works: The supplier pays VAT on raw materials. When they export, the government refunds that money (typically 5–13%).
• Impact on Price: High. Suppliers can pass this refund on to you as a lower price.

VAT Exemption (The “No-Tax” Model)

• Codes: 9610, 1039.
• How it works: The supplier does not charge output VAT on the export, but they also don’t get a refund on their input costs.
• Impact on Price: Moderate. It reduces the tax burden, but not as aggressively as a full refund.

Can My Supplier Export Without Using These Standard Codes?

If a factory is small or specialised, they may not hold their own export license. Using a third-party agent to handle customs is legal and common in China. However, you must ensure they are using a legitimate broker.

The Illegal Way: It is relatively common for unscrupulous suppliers to use fraudulent or “borrowed” paperwork to sneak goods out, avoiding all tax obligations. This is illegal, highly risky and destroys your audit trail. It also exposes you to liability if discovered by customs authorities.

The Legal Way: Legitimate export agents handle all customs documentation and tax filings for a standard fee (typically 1-3%). Crucially, when a legal agent is properly engaged, the factory still qualifies for applicable tax refunds or exemptions based on the export code used.

If your supplier uses an agent, demand to see these documents before paying:

1. Business License (营业执照)
2. Import & Export License (进出口经营权)
3. Unified Social Credit Code (USCC)

Buyer’s Checklist: What to Do Next

• Ask the Code Question: Demand to know the 4-digit export supervision code and the intended export process.
• Understand the Tax Treatment: Ask whether the code qualifies for VAT refund, VAT exemption, tax deferral or standard taxation. Understand the difference between these options.
• Verify the Price: If a code with tax benefits (0110, 9710, 9810, etc.) is being used, ensure the quoted price reflects these benefits. Request written confirmation of the tax treatment.
• Check the Agent: If your supplier is using a third party, request the agency’s license and USCC.

Confused About China Export Supervision Codes?

All clients on our China Desk Employer of Record (EOR) platform get expert guidance on China export supervision codes and the latest 2026 policy updates to protect their margins. Get in touch with Kinyu or check out our China Desk services for step-by-step support.

The post China Export Supervision Codes: A Complete 2026 Guide appeared first on Kinyu.

Global statistics reinforce the point. The World Bank says that global trade growth will slow this year due to heightened supply chain risks. It’s no surprise then that we often get asked: “What are the best ways to boost my supply chain resilience?”

Here are our top three tips:

Concentration Risk

Concentration risk is simple: it means leaning too heavily on one supplier, region or shipping route.

China’s dominance in rare earths is a textbook case. The country controls around 60-70% of global rare earth mining and more than 90% of global processing capacity. It’s understandable then, that its threat of new export controls this year rattled Washington and Brussels. A one-year truce on export restrictions has left the U.S. to scrambling to diversify.

Geopolitics may be beyond our control, but the lesson holds for everyone else: don’t let any one supplier control your fate.

Plenty of firms have wired payments to trusted Chinese suppliers, only to watch them vanish. It’s not rare. Bankruptcy cases in China jumped from 10,132 in 2020 to 30,000 by 2024, Reuters reports, and a certain percentage of those have left foreign partners chasing losses.

Due diligence helps, but it’s no fail-safe. However glowing those risk assessments look, if one supplier’s collapse would wipe out three-quarters of your revenue, you’ve got a problem. Concentration kills.

Business Continuity Planning

If concentration risk is about not putting all your eggs in one basket, business continuity planning is what you do when the basket hits the floor. It’s the business equivalent of “planning for the worst.”

Take the Red Sea crisis. Since late 2023, Houthi attacks have forced ships to reroute around Africa, dodging the Suez and driving up delivery times and costs. That’s a migraine for everyone, but for some more than others.

Let’s imagine a company with a business continuity plan. Long before the crisis, they’d already gamed out scenarios like major shipping disruptions: lining up backup air freight for urgent stock, mapping alternative routes and building extra inventory. So when disaster struck, their shipments still moved — just at a higher cost.

Now picture a company with no such plan. For them, it was chaos: missed deadlines, a scramble for air freight and angry customers left waiting.

Obviously, a business continuity plan isn’t the only factor that determines how badly you’re hit when disaster strikes, but it helps. Planning doesn’t erase risk, but it’s often the difference between a controlled mess and a full-scale meltdown.

Continuity planning isn’t exactly fun, and mapping out everything that could go wrong in your supply chain is grunt work. Maybe that’s why only 49% of companies worldwide had a business continuity plan in place prior to 2020, according to IBM. But even the most tedious prep beats improvising while losing costumers.

Start by listing what you can’t lose. If a supplier fails, which shipments matter most? If shipping delays two weeks, who waits? Rank these by impact. Then assess risk. Which suppliers are most likely to fail? How quickly can you switch?

Create playbooks for specific scenarios: losing a distribution center, warehouse failure, key supplier failure. Have contact lists, templates, and ready plans. Don’t wait to scramble when panic hits.

People on the Ground

Diversification and continuity plans are essential, but there’s no substitute for boots on the ground. If you’re running your China operations completely remotely, you’re flying blind.

Putting staff in China is the single best way to boost your supply chain resilience. With people close to your suppliers, issues get flagged early, whether that’s a factory’s cashflow problems or sudden changes in production quality.

Of course, managing an entity in China used to be such a pain that most foreign companies sourcing in China didn’t bother. The admin was almost as bad as the supply chain risk itself!

But now, employer of record services like The China Desk let you have local staff — sourcing managers, inspectors, coordinators — without all the bureaucracy of managing a local business.

Clients using our China Desk see clear benefits. With local staff, delays get handled before they grow, and small hiccups don’t become big disruptions. It’s a simple edge that improves your supply chain resilience.

What You Can Do

• Don’t let a single supplier decide your fate. Diversify early, before trouble hits.
• Have a business continuity plan you can actually follow, not just file away. Run scenarios and update them regularly.
• Get someone on the ground where it counts. Local eyes spot problems before they become disasters.

The post Supply Chain Resilience in China: Three Essentials appeared first on Kinyu.

And they often succeed. The first Canton Fair of 2025 recorded $25.44 billion in on-site export deals, according to the China Foreign Trade Centre.

However, this approach frequently leads to disappointment. The issue? Three days on the show floor isn’t enough time to figure out which manufacturer is genuinely capable of meeting your needs.

Trade shows are full of impressive displays and smooth-talking suppliers, but as Divles Amadei, a China sourcing expert with 20 years of experience, warns: “You will miss 70% of everything that’s going on because the show is the show and when they come to the show they will show you what they want to show.”

Instead, the key to trade show success is having boots on the ground visiting potential suppliers before you arrive.

The Pre-Fair Ground Game

The biggest mistake buyers make is treating the Canton Fair as a complete sourcing solution rather than a verification exercise. All the things you really need to know (production capabilities, quality control processes, and manufacturing limitations) cannot be found out at a trade fair.

“There is no way you can do better negotiation or get better opportunities unless you are here to see how things are moving,” Amadei explains. But “here” doesn’t just mean the exhibition halls; it means Chinese factories, production lines and supplier offices.

Smart buyers identify potential factories months in advance and send teams to conduct supplier assessments before the fair opens. Amadei recommends factory visits 2-4 weeks before trade shows. This timing allows you to verify production capabilities against supplier claims, assess quality control processes firsthand, build relationships with key decision-makers, and identify potential bottlenecks.

The trade show then becomes a final step after months of groundwork, similar to how world leaders rarely meet without extensive diplomatic preparation beforehand. This allows you to walk into fair discussions from an informed position and negotiate strategically rather than react on the fly.

Focus on Relationships, Not Deals

Running a pre-fair ground game is equally important for buyers meeting existing suppliers.

Discussions about modifications or price alterations work best when you have a team on the ground delivering accurate intelligence about your suppliers before you arrive in Guangzhou. What capacity constraints are they facing? What’s driving their pricing? What can they actually commit to? None of these answers can be discovered on the trade show floor alone.

The Bottom Line

The Canton Fair remains a powerful sourcing tool, but only if you use it correctly. The most productive fair visits happen when you arrive with existing market knowledge, established supplier relationships, and realistic expectations about what a few days in Guangzhou can accomplish.

Need help getting started? We offer comprehensive supplier assessments that provide the groundwork new buyers need for successful China sourcing. In our experience, the investment in pre-show preparation and local intelligence often pays for itself through better supplier selection and more favourable terms.

Good luck at the fair!

The post Essential Buyer’s Tips for the Canton Fair appeared first on Kinyu.

The Old Export Loophole

Let’s back up and explain what happened. Any goods exported from China require an official export license from the Ministry of Commerce. The license can be held by the factory, a trading company or the buyer (if they have a Chinese entity). However, getting a license costs several hundred dollars and takes three to four weeks. And that’s not to mention the ongoing administrative burden of handling export compliance and paying staff members to manage these processes. For small manufacturers operating on thin margins, that’s a real barrier.

So many manufacturers found a workaround: They paid a trading company a small fee (usually 1-3% of shipment value) to use their export credentials. The factory made the goods. The trading company’s name went on all official documents. Everyone moved on.

Unfortunately, however, neither party was particularly enthusiastic about declaring proper taxes on exported goods, resulting in systematic tax evasion. Export agents would just report their 1-3% commission fee while manufacturers wouldn’t report anything. So, predictably, Chinese regulators announced new rules to close the loophole in July.

What Changed and Why It Matters

Under the new rule, export agents must identify the manufacturer in tax declarations, including name, business registration code, export amounts and customs numbers. If an agent fails to do that, the entire shipment value gets reclassified as their own taxable income, subjecting them to the standard 25% corporate income tax rate.

This creates enormous financial liability. For example, on a $100,000 shipment where the agent previously earned a $2,000 commission, failure to provide manufacturer details could trigger $25,000 in tax liability, more than 12 times their actual earnings.

As a result, many smaller factories now face a choice: pay proper taxes and likely pass costs to buyers, or exit export markets entirely.

Crucially, the timing compounds pressure on manufacturers already dealing with mandatory social insurance contributions that took effect Sept. 1, following a Supreme Court ruling that invalidated employer-worker agreements to opt out of payments. Additionally, China’s factory activity contracted for a sixth consecutive month in September as deflationary pressures continued to squeeze margins.

Implications for Overseas Buyers

This export loophole was common enough that many overseas buyers will have non-compliant suppliers. However, the extent to which this affects overseas buyers depends largely on their local presence.

Consider two scenarios that reveal wildly different outcomes.

In the first scenario, a buyer in Europe has been sourcing products from China for years. The relationship works smoothly: orders go in, products come out, prices stay competitive. But crucially that buyer doesn’t know their supplier has been using this export license loophole.

Perhaps they don’t even know if they’re dealing with a trading company or the original manufacturer. They might have no direct contact with the factory that makes their products. The trading company serves as intermediary, and the buyer never thought to look past that layer.

Buyers in this category face the highest risk of being negatively affected by this loophole closure, either through a surprise price hike or their supplier going under.

By contrast, consider a buyer with an on-ground presence in China. They would have been much more likely to hear about this announcement in July, which would have given them time to prepare.

Those teams were likely much better able to spend July, August and September verifying supplier compliance. They checked which suppliers held proper export licenses. They identified which were using trading company credentials. They adjusted contracts to reflect new cost structures. By the time Oct. 1 arrived, these companies had already solved the problems.

The Broader Context

The lesson here is that the hands-off model (place orders remotely, receive goods, repeat) will often work fine until the regulatory environment shifts. Then it becomes expensive very quickly.

China’s regulatory burden for suppliers has tightened considerably in recent months putting many smaller suppliers under pressure. However, without an on-the-ground presence, buyers cannot assess whether their suppliers are compliant with new regulations or can withstand the accumulated pressure.

Gaining a Local Presence

It’s perfectly understandable that many buyers don’t have an on-the-ground presence. Setting up and maintaining an entity in China is a massive undertaking. Thankfully, establishing on-ground presence in China isn’t just for companies with the resources to set up their own entity. An Employer of Record like The China Desk by Kinyu provides the same local capabilities without the complexity.

The service hires and manages a China-based team on your behalf, handling supplier verification, regulatory monitoring and direct factory relationships. All China Desk clients receive proper export licensing guidance and advance notice of regulatory changes.

In other words, no regulatory surprises!

The post China’s Export Loophole Ban Proves the Value of Local Presence appeared first on Kinyu.

We think the position paper really nails some of the issues we and our clients run into all the time:

• Making sure the promises from the latest U.K.-China Economic and Financial Dialogue don’t just sound good on paper, but actually get done
• Cutting through the red tape that’s been slowing business down for years
• Bringing some much-needed clarity and fairness to how regulations are enforced from one region to the next

Benjamin King, Kinyu CEO and a member of the chamber’s south China executive committee, discussed these findings (and what they mean for our clients) in a recent meeting with the chamber in Guangzhou.

You can download the full report here.

What operational challenges are your clients most focused on today?

The uncertainties around the U.S.-China tariff war are a real issue. We have U.K. and European clients with supply chains in China, and their growth potential is being curbed by U.S. tariffs on goods made in China.

They are looking to develop supply chains in alternative countries and have had some success in small ranges within their product categories. Still, overall, other manufacturing hubs are more expensive than China and often more challenging to work with. It adds a lot of complication to outsourcing manufacturing — China has made it so simple for companies that they are not used to this burden.

Are labour and compliance demands changing in the Greater Bay Area (GBA), and if so, how are U.K. firms responding?

We are not seeing major changes in labour or compliance demands. However, there are still plenty of existing challenges. As our company grows, we are hiring people in several GBA cities, including Foshan, Shenzhen and Guangzhou. To employ staff in each city, we need a separate legal entity for every location. This creates a significant operational challenge. The GBA is supposed to be about integration, but when it comes to social insurance and taxes, the region is still pretty fragmented.

Take Foshan, for example. It’s a metropolis made by merging three smaller cities (Shunde and two others). Social insurance is combined across the city, except for the personal part of medical insurance. So, if you want to go to the hospital and use your medical insurance, someone paying social insurance in Changchen district can’t use it in Shunde. It’s frustrating, to say the least.

Because of this, and with all the uncertainty from tariffs and other factors, we’re seeing companies shy away from setting up their own entities. Instead, they’re looking for more flexible options, like the employer of record model. Honestly, I don’t think companies can plan five or 10 years ahead like they used to. Flexibility is what matters now.

What other challenges are companies facing?

Another challenge companies face is social insurance. On our On The Ground YouTube channel, we interviewed a law firm that said not paying social insurance properly is the most common reason for disputesbetween foreign firms and their employees.

We’ve seen firsthand that some local Chinese firms don’t always pay social insurance correctly. But as a foreign company, we have to be much more cautious. The law is technically the same for everyone. Still, we can’t afford the risk of non-compliance, while a lot of Chinese companies seem willing to take that risk. This creates an uneven playing field.

Many of your clients are small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) who aren’t always able to engage directly with the government. How helpful is chamber advocacy in unlocking practical solutions?

The British Chamber of Commerce in China really gives SMEs a voice. Big companies can afford entire government affairs teams, but SMEs just don’t have those resources. The position paper highlights that licensing and compliance requirements hit smaller companies much harder than larger ones. This is mainly because they do not have the capacity to handle all the red tape. That’s why I believe chamber advocacy is so important for SMEs in finding practical solutions.

Navigating the patchwork of policies across China is one of our biggest challenges. Each region implements these policies differently, which adds another layer of complexity for our operations. More transparency on regional differences (think: high temperature subsidies) would make a real difference. Right now, we often have to figure these things out ourselves, and then end up blogging about them!

As someone working across sectors and regions, do you feel businesses are ready to reinvest and scale in China? What’s holding them back?

I feel companies are ready to take advantage of China’s vast supply chain and manufacturing strengths. More companies are working with China not just because it can make anything and everything. They are also choosing China because it can produce higher-value products well.

Kinyu doesn’t just work with U.K. companies. We work with companies globally and also have a focus on the Brazilian market. It’s been interesting to see how the backdrop differs. I believe many U.K. companies are held back by the uncertainty caused by U.S. trade tariffs, whereas Brazilian companies are going all in on China. It’s similar to what Europe did 20 years ago!

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