China remains the single largest manufacturing and export powerhouse in the world, and for many UK companies it is a natural option to source from there. Doing it well can require some guidance and expertise.
Having up-to-date compliance, tight quality control, and proper logistics that match your product and margin targets is key to success when importing. We have been helping countries all over Europe and the U.K., from London to Istanbul, source contract manufactured products from China for decades.
China is a top sourcing option for UK businesses
- Scale, capacity and competitive pricing. China’s export base remains huge; UK imports from China were about £70.8 billion in the year to Q1 2025 — and China is the world’s largest merchandise exporter. For many product categories that scale translates directly into better pricing at volume.
- Manufacturing clusters and speed to market. Cities like Shenzhen (electronics/rapid prototyping), and provinces such as Zhejiang (textiles, footwear, small household appliances) contain tightly integrated supply chains — that cluster effect shortens development time and makes rapid iteration feasible.
- Wide product range and supplier maturity. From high-spec electronics to low-cost consumer goods, China has suppliers across the whole quality spectrum — you can choose budget factories or specialist ISO-certified partners depending on your positioning.
Best Product Categories for UK Companies Sourcing from China (high ROI + reliable supply chains)
The products we don’t source are biodegradable products, chemicals, and food, these products take a plethora of certifications to both export and import.
These categories are proven, searchable, and where Chinese suppliers routinely offer competitive lead times, tooling expertise, and price points that work.
While we can source just about anything, below are some of the top products to source.
- Sports Products – from golf products, to football, to basketball, China produces a vast amount of the world’s sports products and equipment.
- Textiles & Apparel — from commodity basics to higher-value technical fabrics, to industrial textiles, you can find just about any clothing or textile product being made in China.
- Fur — There are several regions in China that specialize in fur clothing and accessories manufacturing. These are high end furs that many luxury brands use and are perfect for your brand.
- Homewares & Furniture — Many household appliances, kitchenware, furniture, beds and household necessities are imported from China. We can source, manufacture, and customize whatever household products your business sells.
Machined Products – Anything that requires CNC machining, injection molding, castings, forgings are perfect to source in China. We have access to a wide range of production capabilities.- Toys & Consumer Plastic Goods — China has an expansive and extensive plastic injection molding industry, which allows them to mass produce toys quickly and with high quality.
- LED lighting, Bulbs and Industrial Components – We have access to factories with a long history of production experience and testing capability and can source many different types of electrical components and industrial equipment
Things to know and plan ahead for
Product compliance changed after Brexit.
Great Britain now uses the UKCA conformity mark for many product categories — this affects toys, PPE, electrical goods, etc. You must confirm whether UKCA or other specific testing/certification is required before you import. Distributors and importers also have responsibilities under UKCA rules. Of course, your products must comply under the EU rules as well, should you want to sell there. You can contact a customs broker for information on what may be needed for your product.
Import VAT, duty and the ‘de-minimis’ debate.
Import VAT applies on most goods (standard rate 20%), and customs duties depend on tariff classification and value. As tariffs have been changing frequently, it’s a good idea to get these confirmed before moving forward with an order so you aren’t caught unaware of the costs.
A Practical Step-by-Step Product Sourcing Guide
Product Development
The first step in bringing your product idea to life and then to market is to have it designed, tested, and prototyped. This involves having manufacturing files generated that will serve as the blueprint the factory will follow in making your part. These are crucial because they will set the standard of quality for your product.
These will typically be in the form of 2D Pdfs, and 3D models in the form of CAD (Computer Aided Drafting) files. Chinese factories prefer their CAD files in step file format.
You’ll need an engineer to help you get these files made, we’ve developed a network of engineers that can assist you. We recommend having the engineering done by western engineers, not Chinese ones. The reasons for this are that they will be much more familiar with government regulations and compliance. The language and culture barrier also makes product design much more difficult, often taking much longer and sometimes the process more expensive as well.
The next step is to prototype your product. It may be tempting to skip your prototype and go straight to production, but that carries risks like getting a production order that may not work properly.
Prototypes allow you to not only test your product but get crucial market research. You can show your product to potential investors or people in your target customer demographic to get information and feedback on your product; what they like and don’t like about it, as well as potential ideas they have that can improve upon it.
It’s pretty common to have to go through a few rounds of prototyping before your design is ready for manufacturing.
Product Sourcing
One of the major keys to product success is finding the right manufacturer to make your product. This can be harder than it sounds, it is difficult to know who you’re dealing with when you have to overcome language and cultural barriers.
Due to China’s sheer size and dense population, they are bound to have a few scammers out there. We’ve had some clients come to us and say they’ve visited Chinese pages only to find out either the factory didn’t exist and it was a front to scam money, or that the factory was ill equipped to handle their orders and it was a nightmare experience.
Chinese culture is also very different from their western counterparts in nearly every way, including how they do business. While we like a more straightforward approach, the Chinese like a more relational way of doing business.
They like to get to know their business partners, which includes a host of traditions including business banquets down to the way they exchange business cards.
This way of doing business takes time but is the best way to get the products at the quality you need, and these relationships also help with getting beneficial resolutions.
At Global Trade Specialists we have spent decades building these relationships so you don’t have to. Our relationships with our partners and suppliers in China gives us an edge over other companies.
Production
Our quotes come with the cost of a sample so that you can see production quality before having to commit to a production order. Tooling for the sample will be included as well. Our suppliers will use the appropriate tooling for the job required, this could be molds, fixtures, castings, and more.
Once the sample is approved, we will mass produce the product and ship it to you. We have contacts with shipping companies and customs brokers that can quote freight and import VATS to give you a comprehensive quote. We aim to offer you as comprehensive a service as possible.