Everything you wanted to know about trading with China.

Every shortlisted factory is checked against AIC business license records, asked for export track record and recent ISO/BSCI/SEDEX audits if applicable, and visited in person by a Makehe team member or third-party inspector. We require at least three reference clients before we sign a master agreement.

MOQ depends on the factory and product. We typically work with MOQs from a few hundred pieces for accessories up to multi-container industrial orders. For very small trial orders, we use trading-company partners with low MOQ at a small markup.

Yes. We manage tooling deposits, sample iterations, packaging design, and IP protection (signing mutual NDAs and where relevant, registering trademarks in China before tooling).

Consumer electronics, home & kitchen, apparel & textiles, industrial machinery, auto parts, beauty & personal care, furniture, construction hardware, medical & safety, toys & sports, branded/promotional goods — and almost anything else manufactured in China.

Standard engagements include a pre-shipment inspection (PSI) by a third-party QC firm or Makehe staff: AQL 2.5 sampling, function/safety test per spec, label/packaging check, photo and video report within 24 hours.

Because Makehe contracts and pays the factory, we hold the leverage. We negotiate rework, repacking, replacement, or refund before releasing the final 70% of the payment. You are not stuck chasing a foreign factory yourself.

Yes — for orders above ~USD 20k or where lead time is tight we recommend a during-production inspection (DPI) at 30–50% completion to catch issues before they propagate through the run.

FCL and LCL sea freight from major Chinese ports (Shanghai, Ningbo, Shenzhen, Qingdao), express and consolidated air freight, rail to Europe, and door-to-door DAP/DDP via vetted carrier partners.

Indicative transit times from Shanghai: Dubai 18–22 days, Karachi 14–18 days, Mombasa 28–32 days, Jakarta 8–10 days, Rotterdam 30–35 days. Add 5–10 days for port handling and customs both ends.

Yes through licensed partner customs brokers in 30+ countries. For DDP shipments, all duties, taxes and last-mile delivery are included in the quoted price.

All shipments are insurable at 0.1–0.3% of CIF value. We strongly recommend insurance on every order and include it by default unless you decline in writing.

You sign one bilingual contract with Makehe (not 5 different Chinese factories). You pay Makehe in USD/EUR/AED. We disburse to factories in RMB on agreed milestones (30% deposit, 70% on QC-passed pre-shipment). You never wire money to an unknown party in China.

SWIFT wire (USD, EUR, CNY), AED transfer via Dubai, and qualifying client volumes can pay via Letter of Credit (L/C) against shipping documents.

Always. Every engagement starts with a Master Services Agreement and individual Purchase Orders. Contracts are bilingual (English + Chinese) so they are enforceable in both jurisdictions.

Yes. The most common structure is a WFOE (Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprise). Less commonly, a Representative Office, Joint Venture or Free Trade Zone entity. Makehe handles each setup end-to-end, typically 6–10 weeks for WFOE.

There is no fixed statutory minimum since the 2014 reforms, but in practice authorities expect declared capital appropriate to the business scope — usually USD 30k–100k for trading WFOEs, higher for manufacturing.

No — most steps can be completed by power of attorney with notarised and apostilled documents. You will eventually need to visit for bank account opening, but the company can be live and trading before that.

Makehe Shanghai Trading Ltd was registered in Lingang, Shanghai in 2020. Since then we have facilitated cumulative international trade exceeding USD 10 million.

Mandarin Chinese, English, Urdu, Arabic, Malay, Bahasa Indonesia, and Swahili across our HQ and regional offices.

Initial response within one business day. Tailored quotations typically within 2–4 business days depending on category complexity. For urgent matters, our WhatsApp desk responds in real time during Shanghai business hours.