Find Reliable Suppliers in China: Ultimate Guide for Buyers at the Canton Fair 2025!

Are you struggling to find reliable suppliers?

Are you worried that product quality and prices will affect your sales?

Are you looking for ways to scale your business but unsure where to start?

Do you want to know how to find high-quality suppliers directly from China?

If your answer is YES, then you are in the right place!

Before diving into the details, let' s look at key statistics from Chinese customs data. In 2024, the trade volume between China and the U.S. reached $688.28 billion, with $524.65 billion in exports from China to the U.S., reflecting a 4.9% increase from the previous year. This enormous trade value highlights how U.S. retailers have long recognized the benefits of sourcing from China—better quality, lower costs, and a wider variety of products.

If you do not import products from China to sell, you will lose a lot of profit margins and business growth opportunities. In this blog, we will use Chinese largest trade fair—the Canton Fair—as an example to help you learn how to find reliable suppliers in China. Let’s get started!

Source: AP Photo

What is the Canton Fair? Why the Canton Fair 2025 is Worth Your Time?

What is the Canton Fair?

The Canton Fair, formally named the China Import and Export Fair, is the largest trade fair in China. As one of the world's largest and most comprehensive trade fairs, the Canton Fair has become an important bridge between global buyers and suppliers. It attracts tens of thousands of international buyers, manufacturers, and suppliers to negotiate, purchase products, and conduct business here.

Whether you are a retailer, wholesaler, importer, or entrepreneur, if you want to expand your business network, find high-quality products, and secure better deals with manufacturers, then the Canton Fair is the ideal place for you.

Source: online

Why the Canton Fair 2025 is Worth Your Time?

1. Diverse product selection

The Canton Fair is one of the most comprehensive trade fairs in the world, covering thousands of product categories, and each stage of the exhibition will display different types of goods. These exhibits are divided into categories clearly, you can find any type of product you need at the Canton Fair as quickly as possible.

2. Direct Supplier Communication

At the Canton Fair, you can meet suppliers face-to-face and directly evaluate their production capabilities, negotiate prices, and discuss customization options in real time. The advantage of this direct communication is that key purchasing conditions, such as price, minimum order quantity, and customization requirements, can be more thoroughly negotiated without relying on email or online communication, reducing misunderstandings from email exchanges.

Additionally, through face-to-face interaction, you can observe the professionalism, integrity, and potential for long-term cooperation of suppliers. This is essential for building a reliable supply chain.

3. Get market trends

The Canton Fair is not only a procurement platform, but also a trendsetter for global markets. By observing the products, design styles, and emerging technologies displayed by suppliers at the exhibition, you can gain insight into market trends and make data-driven purchasing decisions.

4. Expand industry contacts

The Canton Fair is a large-scale international trade event that brings thousands of exhibitors and buyers from all over the world and is an excellent opportunity to network with industry experts, potential partners, and even investors. Communication with them will help expand your business horizons and establish long-term and stable business relationships.

Source: online

Dates, Phases, and Product Categories at the Canton Fair 2025

The 2025 Canton Fair (137th) will last for three weeks, divided into three phases, with each phase focusing on different industries. Therefore, if you want to explore a specific industry or meet suppliers and manufacturers of your industry at the Canton Fair, understanding these phases and dates is crucial. Because attending the correct phase, you save time and focus on suppliers relevant to your business.

Below are the specific dates, phases, and product categories at the Canton Fair 2025.

Canton Fair 2025 Schedule & Product Categories:

How to Find Reliable Suppliers at the Canton Fair 2025?

There are thousands of suppliers exhibiting at the Canton Fair, providing the product categories you need, but each of these suppliers has its strengths. Some products are of particularly good quality, some offer particularly low prices, and some have a particularly wide variety of products. How to choose the most reliable supplier that suits you is an important question. Follow these steps to ensure you find a reliable and high-quality supplier.

1. Research Suppliers Before the Fair

Before attending the Canton Fair, we highly recommended you to research potential suppliers in advance. Pre-judging and determining a potential suppliers list in advance will not only help you improve your efficiency on the day, but also reduce your risk of being deceived by suppliers. You can do a simple pre-research in the following ways.

• Visit the official Canton Fair website to view exhibitor lists.
• Visit supplier websites to review their company background and product catalog.
• Look for supplier reviews on LinkedIn, Rednote and other platforms.

2. Verify Supplier Qualifications

It is very important to ensure that the supplier has a legal business license and export qualifications, which can help you avoid a lot of unnecessary costs during future cooperation. To avoid unreliable suppliers, you can directly ask the supplier to provide the following certificates to verify the supplier's qualifications at the exhibition site.

• Factory or supplier business license
• Product quality certification (ISO, CE, FDA, etc.)
• Testimonials from past customers
• Manufacturing production capacity

3. Assess Product Quality

Don’t rely solely on supplier claims—inspect product samples directly at the exhibition. Because product quality is the most intuitive criterion for evaluating whether a supplier is trustworthy. At the Canton Fair, you will see different samples provided by suppliers at their booths.

Because each product has different quality requirements, we recommend that you compare the quality of similar products from different suppliers multiple times, provided that the product prices are similar, to determine which supplier is of better quality.

4. Please compare samples based on

• Materials and craftsmanship
• Durability and consistency
• Compliance with market standards

5. Evaluate Supplier Communication

Good communication leads to seamless transactions and fewer misunderstandings. Now that you are at the exhibition site, the biggest advantage is that you can communicate face to face.

You can ask some professional questions about the product or industry to test suppliers' knowledge when communicating. If a supplier struggles to answer or lacks transparency, they may not be reliable long-term partners.

Top 3 Things You Should Do after You Find a High-quality Supplier.

Finding a supplier is only half the battle, you still have a lot of follow-up work to do. After interviewing and discussing with dozens of large retailers, we have identified the following three things you must do well to ensure a smooth partnership.

1. Negotiate Pricing and Contract Terms

Pricing is negotiable at the Canton Fair! Suppliers will offer you different prices based on the product category and quantity you need. According to experience, the unit price for large and small orders can differ by up to 20%. Therefore, there is a lot of room for negotiation on the price given by suppliers, so please seize any opportunity to reduce costs!

Details of negotiations and contracts include

• Product price
• Payment way
• Delivery timeline
• Minimum order quantity (MOQ)

2. Plan International Shipping & Logistics

Shipping is a major challenge in international sourcing. Because its shipping costs, customs clearance, and transit time can be more complex than domestic transportation. Therefore, after finding a supplier, you still need to consider transportation issues.

If your supplier lacks logistics support, it is also normal. Then you'd better find someone who can help you solve these problems, such as a china sourcing agent. China sourcing agent like EJET Procurement has many intricate supply chains and networks that can help you complete cargo consolidation and international transportation at the lowest cost.

3. Place a Small Test Order

We recommend that you place a simple minimum order before making a large purchase. These small test orders can help you determine the quality of the products provided by the supplier (you know the quality of exhibits and samples may not be consistent with the quality of mass-produced products) as well as manufacturing capabilities and other capabilities.

Source: pexels

Save Your Money: Work with EJET Procurement

We mentioned China sourcing agents can help you solve many procurement problems when we talked about international shipping issues.

If you feel overwhelmed by supplier selection, price negotiation, and logistics? We highly recommend to let EJET Procurement handle it for you! Because EJET has a strong supply chain resource after 20 years of accumulation. As your representative in China, they will help you get the best products at the lowest price with the most full spiritual motivation and professional attitude, and provide other services like logistics.

Why Work with EJET?

• Exceptional Product Sourcing – Find high-quality suppliers at competitive prices
• Extensive Supply Chain Network – Leverage 20+ years of industry experience
• Digital Procurement Process – Track every step of your order online
• Flexible End-To-End Solutions – From sourcing to shipping
• Professional & Experienced Team – Your trusted sourcing partner in China

Whether you are new to sourcing from China or wanting to look to optimize your supply chain, EJET Procurement simplifies the process and saves you money.

This is the ultimate guide for the 2025 Spring Canton Fair. If you need any help, please contact EJET and submit the form immediately! EJET will have professional procurement experts to provide you with 24/7 service.

Source: online

5 Tips for Attending the Canton Fair

• Prepare Your Documents: apply for a Canton Fair invitation letter and a China business visa (M Visa).
• Book Travel Early: reserve hotels and flights in advance for the best rates.
• Bring Business Materials: company cards, product requirements, budget plans.
• Wear Comfortable Clothing: the fair is HUGE! Dress professionally but comfortably.
• Understand Chinese Business Etiquette: politeness and professionalism go a long way.