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Business in China

Exporting to China: Our Experts’ Strategies in 2026

Discover how to export to China in 2025 with success — expert guidance on market entry, trends, and regulatory best practices.

Olivier VEROT
Founder · Updated July 28, 2026
Exporting to China: Our Experts’ Strategies in 2026

China’s imports grew 22.1% in the first half of 2026 alone, reaching $1.55 trillion. Are you ready to claim your share?

With a booming middle class, growing demand for foreign products, and the world’s largest e-commerce market, China presents massive opportunities for international businesses. But entering this fast-moving market isn’t easy, especially with rising local competition and complex regulations.

At GMA, we’ve helped hundreds of brands successfully export to China. With over 15 years of hands-on experience, our team knows what works, and what to avoid.

In this guide, you’ll learn the key benefits of exporting to China, the product categories that perform well, the challenges to watch for, and proven strategies from our experts to help you succeed, including what’s changed in 2026.

Written by Olivier Verot, founder and CEO of GMA. I’ve been based in Shanghai since 2012 and have walked hundreds of foreign brands through their first shipment, their first Tmall store, or their first rejected customs filing. This guide is built on what actually happened to them.

Contents

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What are the Benefits of China Exports?

Shoppers in China
Shoppers in China

The importance of exporting to China cannot be overstated, given its position as one of the world’s largest economies and a major player in global trade. Here are the main reasons exporting to China still matters in 2026:

Vast consumer market

With a population of over 1.4 billion people, China offers an immense consumer market. The country’s growing middle class and rising disposable incomes have led to increased consumption across various industries, creating a high demand for products and services. Exporting to China allows businesses to tap into this massive consumer base and expand their customer reach.

Economic growth and market potential

China’s economy has slowed from the double-digit growth of the 2000s, but it remains one of the largest contributors to global GDP growth every year. That growth has produced a prosperous middle class with real purchasing power, which is what actually matters to an exporter: not the headline GDP number, but how many households can afford your product.

Trade liberalization and market access

The Chinese government has kept simplifying import procedures and expanding free trade zones over the past years, in particular around cross-border e-commerce. These efforts have created workable conditions for exporters to access the Chinese market without necessarily setting up a local entity on day one.

Global supply chain integration

China plays a central role in global supply chains, serving as a manufacturing and sourcing hub for numerous industries. Many businesses around the world already rely on Chinese suppliers, manufacturers, and components. Exporting to China lets companies integrate into these supply chains, cut costs, and stay competitive on the global market at the same time.

E-commerce dominance

China has the largest e-commerce market in the world, with more than 1 billion people connected online. Platforms such as Alibaba’s Tmall, JD.com, and Pinduoduo give exporters a direct line to Chinese consumers, with distribution channels that scale without a physical store network.

The numbers back this up. In the first half of 2026, China’s total foreign trade topped RMB 25.47 trillion (about $3.75 trillion), up 16.9% year on year, the highest figure ever recorded for a first half. Imports specifically grew even faster than exports: up 22.1% to RMB 10.74 trillion, outpacing export growth by 8.7 percentage points. That gap matters for you as an exporter: it means Chinese demand for foreign goods is currently growing faster than China’s own capacity to sell abroad.

Strategic market diversification

Exporting to China provides an opportunity for businesses to diversify their markets and reduce dependence on a single market or region. By expanding into China, companies can soften the blow of a downturn or a slump elsewhere, and build a second growth engine that doesn’t depend on their home market’s mood.

Innovation and technology collaborations

China’s push into artificial intelligence, renewable energy, biotechnology, and electric vehicles creates real openings for exporters with advanced products, technologies, or specialized expertise. It’s fertile ground for joint ventures and technology transfer, not just a one-way sale.

Bilateral trade agreements

China has signed bilateral trade agreements with a wide range of countries, which lowers tariffs and builds stronger trade ties over time. These agreements offer exporters preferential access and reduced barriers. Capitalizing on the one that applies to your country can quietly shave a real percentage off your landed cost.

Where China’s Import Demand Stands in 2026

Import and export activity in a Chinese port
Import and export activity in a Chinese port

A few numbers worth sitting with before you plan your entry.

  • Consumer goods imports are outpacing overall trade growth. In the first quarter of 2026, clothing and footwear imports were up 8.7% year on year, food, tobacco and alcohol imports were up 8%, and cosmetics imports were up 4.9%, according to Chinese customs data. Every one of those categories is a foreign-brand-friendly category.
  • Cross-border e-commerce keeps climbing. China’s cross-border e-commerce trade hit a record RMB 2.75 trillion in 2025, up 69.7% versus 2020, and the pace hasn’t slowed: the first quarter of 2026 alone brought in roughly RMB 618.5 billion. If you don’t yet have a company registered in China, this is very likely your entry point.
  • Customs is actively lowering friction, not raising it. Since April 1, 2026, China’s customs authority expanded a cross-district return policy for cross-border e-commerce retail exports nationwide, letting sellers process a return through any customs port instead of the one they originally shipped from. A companion rule from February 2026 refunds export duties on cross-border e-commerce goods that come back within six months. Both changes exist to cut the cost of testing the market and being wrong the first time.

Put together, this is a market that grew its import bill by more than a fifth in six months while making it cheaper for a foreign seller to walk back a bad batch. That combination doesn’t happen often, and it won’t stay this favorable forever.

Challenges of Exporting to China

  1. Cultural and language barriers: China has a distinct culture and business practices that differ from Western norms. Language barriers and different communication styles can complicate building relationships, negotiating deals, and reading customer preferences.
  2. Regulatory complexity: Navigating import regulations, customs procedures, and industry-specific rules is time-consuming. Exporters must comply with product standards, certifications, labeling requirements, and intellectual property laws, and those rules change more often than most Western regulators would tolerate.
  3. Market competition: China’s market is fiercely competitive, with both domestic and international players fighting for the same shelf space. Competing against established players is a real challenge, especially in categories where local brands have closed the quality gap.
  4. Intellectual property protection: Counterfeit products, trademark infringement, and unauthorized use of patents are real risks. Exporters need to take proactive steps to protect their intellectual property, ideally before their first shipment, not after the first knockoff appears.
  5. Localization and adaptation: Adapting products, packaging, branding, and marketing to fit Chinese consumer preferences and cultural norms takes real work. It can mean product modifications, label translation, or adjustments to meet regulatory or consumer expectations.
  6. Distribution complexities: Building efficient distribution in China is hard. The country’s sheer size, logistical friction, and regional differences in taste complicate any distribution plan. Finding reliable partners, agents, or distributors who know the local market matters more here than almost anywhere else.
  7. Payment and financial considerations: Currency exchange, timely payments, local payment methods, and unfamiliar financial systems all add friction. Exporters need secure payment mechanisms, a plan for currency swings, and a realistic read on credit risk.
  8. Language and customer support: Effective customer support and after-sales service in the local language is often underestimated. It usually means setting up a local customer service function, or partnering with someone who already has one.
  9. Political and regulatory risks: Policy changes, trade disputes, and geopolitical shifts introduce real uncertainty. Keeping an eye on regulatory developments and having a plan B is not optional at this point.

Despite all of that, exporters work through these challenges successfully every month, with the right support. Our agency exists to make that process easier.

We specialize in market research, regulatory compliance, local partnerships, and cultural adaptation. With our help, you skip most of the trial and error and get to long-term success in the Chinese market faster.

exportation to China

What Products Export Well to China?

There are still plenty of sectors and openings for foreign brands entering China. A few years ago, it depended a lot on which region you targeted, since tastes varied sharply between the north and the south. Thanks to e-commerce, that’s changed: a product can reach a buyer in Chengdu and a buyer in Shanghai through the exact same storefront.

Beauty Products and Personal Care

Beauty products and the AI technology
Beauty products and the AI technology

China is the world’s second-largest beauty market, and cosmetics imports were still growing in early 2026 (up 4.9% in Q1, as noted above). Skincare in particular has kept its momentum: it’s the category where Chinese consumers most consistently say they trust overseas brands over domestic ones, even as local names like Florasis have closed the gap on price and packaging.

Being a foreign brand is no longer the automatic quality signal it was ten years ago. Domestic competitors have gotten good. If you want to stand out today, you need real formulation credibility and a distribution plan, not just a Western name on the label.

China's skincare market

Read: Top marketing strategies to sell and promote a beauty and cosmetics brand in China

Fashion

Fashion luxury apparel and bags

China has been the world’s largest apparel manufacturer and exporter for over a decade, but Chinese consumers themselves are increasingly drawn to well-known foreign apparel brands, since the concept of face and appearance still carries weight in how people dress. Menswear in particular has become a growing category, not just womenswear.

China fashion market

If you want to export fashion products to China, don’t skip the groundwork: Chinese consumers are reluctant to buy from a brand they’ve never heard of. Build online reputation before you enter the market, not after.

Read: Best practices to promote and sell a fashion brand in China

Imported Food

The Chinese import food industry stays lucrative as the middle class grows and demand for non-local products, cheese, olive oil, chocolate, keeps rising. Food safety concerns still push many Chinese consumers toward imported brands, which are generally seen as safer.

Exporting food to China

Research from DDMA found that 69% of Chinese consumers across social classes strongly believe foreign food is superior, and 60% say they prefer restaurants offering foreign cuisine. That perception gap is worth more to an exporter than any single certification.

The most-purchased imported product categories by transaction volume:

  • Meat: 295,000
  • Edible oil: 33,000
  • Dairy products: 77,000
  • Sea products: 111,000
  • Grain products: 100,000
  • Alcoholic beverages: 272,000
  • Candy: 102,000
  • Non-alcoholic beverages: 132,000
  • Dried nuts: 117,000
  • Pastry and cookies: 83,000

Source: General Administration of Customs, P.R. China

Full guide: The Strategic Guide to Export Food in China

Bottled Water and Alcoholic Beverages

Balance, Australian Water, WeChat H5 by GMA

Bottled water sales in China keep rising, driven by food safety concerns and a shift away from sugared soft drinks. Most Chinese residents will tell you plainly that they never drink tap water, not even boiled, which keeps demand for bottled and filtered water structurally high rather than a passing trend.

Alcoholic beverages tell a similar story on the import side. The spirits segment remains the biggest driver, and online sales already account for a meaningful share of total alcohol revenue, a channel foreign spirits brands can’t afford to ignore anymore.

Full guide: Guide to Sell Wine, Spirit, and Beer in China · Guide to Market Bottled Water Brands in China

Technology, Components, and Aviation

China’s own exports still depend heavily on foreign technology, and the government keeps investing to reduce that dependence, particularly in advanced components and microchips. That push doesn’t close the door on foreign suppliers; it raises the bar for what counts as a component worth importing.

Aviation is a smaller but real opening: with new airports still being built every year, China needs high-precision aircraft components (fuselage, cockpit, landing gear parts) that foreign manufacturers are often best positioned to supply.

Who is China’s Largest Trading Partner?

China has built a vast network of trading partners over the years. Every one of them matters to the Chinese economy, but the title of largest partner keeps shifting with national and international policy changes. Here are two long-standing relationships that show how that plays out over time.

What are the US’s Biggest Exports to China?

In 2022, China was the United States’ third-largest goods export market, up 1.2% year over year to $151.3 billion. The leading US export categories to China that year were oilseeds and grains ($25.4 billion), semiconductors and components ($11.2 billion), oil and gas ($11.0 billion), pharmaceuticals ($10.9 billion), basic chemicals ($6.7 billion), and navigational instruments ($6.5 billion). The mix has shifted since, but it shows the range of categories that move at scale between the two countries.

What is Australia’s Biggest Export to China?

Australia’s exports to China reached $138 billion in 2021, led by iron ore ($95.7 billion), petroleum gas ($15 billion), and gold ($5.86 billion). Over the previous 26 years, Australian exports to China grew at an annualized rate of 17.2%, from $2.24 billion in 1995 to that $138 billion figure. Few bilateral trade relationships have compounded that consistently for that long.

Australian honey on Baidu

Understanding China’s Market Before You Export

First, remember that China is very local. You’ll need to dig in to find the right price point and the products that fit Chinese consumers’ needs, habits, and trends. You also need market research to understand your position among both local and foreign competitors, their price range, and where the gaps are.

Why do Chinese People Rarely Reply to Emails?

If you’re trying to reach a Chinese company, partner, or customer, getting a reply matters, and email often isn’t the way. Most Chinese professionals barely use it and prefer WeChat for both personal and professional communication. If you’ve run email campaigns in China before, you already know the response rate.

If you want to do business in China, you need a WeChat presence. GMA can help you set up a verified WeChat Business account and grow an engaged follower base from there.

Building and Maintaining a Strong Network

Your network matters more in China than in most markets. People do business with people, not just companies. That’s not unique to China, but knowing the right person here can simplify things enormously.

Not every business entering China already has “guanxi” (network) to lean on. This is where China’s digital-first business culture helps: even without existing connections, building your online reputation builds a network and a name for your brand at the same time.

Do I Need a Local Team?

If you’re marketing to major cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, or Guangzhou, language is less of a barrier since those cities are highly international, though a real localization effort still pays off.

In smaller cities, it’s worth working with locals or hiring Mandarin (or Cantonese, for Hong Kong) speakers. Translators and interpreters matter most when you’re just entering the market: they help you start with solid basics and communicate cleanly with every partner.

Regulations You Should Know Before Exporting to China

China has invested heavily in infrastructure, with more than 270 airports and hundreds of green data centers. You’ll be able to export goods by container, since China also has several major international ports.

On regulations, China is strict with foreign companies, especially those selling food and drink products. China’s import rules change often, and they exist to protect public health, personal property, the environment, and national security all at once. If you want to export to mainland China, you need to comply with standards issued by the Standardization Administration of China (SAC).

China has five types of standards, which vary by location, company size, and industry:

  • National standards
  • Regional standards
  • Industry standards
  • Enterprise standards, for individual organizations
  • Association standards

Essential Requirements for Exporting to China

  • Entry-exit permits, where applicable to your goods category
  • Clearance documents: check the Chinese government’s website, or contact us directly for the current list.

Getting your clearance documents ready in advance is what keeps a shipment moving instead of sitting in a warehouse. That includes:

  • Commercial invoice
  • Packing list
  • Bill of lading
  • Labeling that complies with Chinese ingredient and origin regulations

Protecting Your Business in China

Registering your trademark in China is not optional if you want to enter the market without constantly looking over your shoulder. China is a first-to-file country: whoever registers a brand name first owns it, regardless of who used it first anywhere else in the world.

Trademark registration is the first step to take before exporting to China, not an afterthought. Skip it, and if someone else files your name first, you have essentially no recourse: you’ll be paying a fine or fighting a legal battle you didn’t have to have.

Read: Why should you trademark your brand and goods in China? · Legal and practical ways to protect your brand in China

The Value of a Chinese Name

The Chinese name you choose for your brand can be the difference between success and failure in China. A good first impression starts here: pick a name that’s appropriate, memorable, and resonates with consumers from day one, not a transliteration nobody can pronounce.

Guide to Exporting Your Products to China

The Distribution Model

In China, as in any specialized industry, you’ll find dedicated distributors, some national, some city-specific. They come with an existing customer network and typically offer several product or service categories at once.

The traditional distribution model can be tricky for newcomers, since buying agents usually prefer suppliers who are already present in the market. It’s simply easier to sell something Chinese consumers already recognize than something entirely unknown.

That said, if you’re not on the market yet, don’t panic. There are ways to stand out and earn the attention of Chinese distributors even as a newcomer.

Selling Through E-Commerce Platforms

China’s e-commerce market remains the largest in the world by transaction volume, with Alibaba and JD.com as the two dominant players. Understanding how China’s e-commerce growth reshapes go-to-market strategy is not optional anymore, it’s the default channel for most new entrants.

Cross-Border E-commerce Platforms

JD Worldwide’s website

Chinese consumers are used to buying online because it’s more convenient than shopping in stores. You won’t need a Chinese business license to sell on cross-border platforms, but we strongly suggest partnering with an entity already established in China to handle permits and legal matters.

Tmall Global, for instance, pushes brands to work with a TP, a certified Alibaba third-party partner who handles registration, logistics, and customer service end to end.

Cross-border e-commerce lets you send foreign products straight into China without a local entity, through platforms like Tmall Global, JD Worldwide, and Kaola. On Tmall Global specifically, the top-performing categories remain beauty and personal care, food and groceries, health supplements, and mother-and-baby products.

What Chinese Consumers Expect from an Online Store

Chinese consumers want trustworthy and accessible shopping platforms. Marketplaces give brands verified stores that build legitimacy fast. Brands that skip these trusted platforms risk getting buried behind competitors who show up first on Baidu, China’s answer to Google.

Brick-and-Mortar Stores

You can also sell directly, by setting up a company in China and staffing physical boutiques. It takes more time and more resources, but it can pay off more in the long run than a purely online play.

Partnering with Chinese Agents

Finding a local agent matters if you want real traction in China. Plenty of agents represent foreign companies, each with their own pros and cons. Bigger agencies offer more services; smaller ones often give better attention. Selling through Chinese agents also lets you skip the business license requirement in many cases.

Many SMEs find it hard to hire local employees directly, which is why an outsourced partner often ends up simpler and less risky. Some agents even handle logistics end to end: customs clearance, in-country transportation, and managing clients across time zones, all without you needing a local team fluent in Mandarin.

Trade Fairs and Exhibitions

How do you find B2B customers in China? Trade fairs remain one of the most effective ways to identify and reach new contacts in a specific sector. There are various kinds of international trade fairs across several industries. Look online, or contact us if you’re after something specific.

Wine fair in China

Vinexpo remains a key meeting point for wine professionals across Asia, bringing producers and distributors together in one place. On the government side, the China International Import Expo (CIIE) has become the single biggest stage for foreign brands wanting direct access to Chinese buyers, and it’s worth applying to well ahead of the deadline. For industrial and machinery exporters specifically, our list of the top machinery exhibitions in China is a good starting point.

Gucci Archetypes exhibition

Exhibitions also work well for engaging directly with an audience, particularly for fashion brands that want to put their creations on physical display.

New Ways to Reach Chinese Buyers in 2026

The channels above are still the backbone of an export strategy. But three things changed since this guide was first written, and each one changes how a buyer actually finds you.

GEO: Getting Found by AI Search, Not Just Baidu

A growing share of Chinese business buyers, not just consumers, now ask an AI assistant like DeepSeek or Doubao to shortlist suppliers before they ever open a search engine. That’s a different game than Baidu SEO. Baidu ranks pages based on backlinks and on-page signals; a DeepSeek-style model answers based on how clearly your content states facts it can quote: your certifications, your production capacity, your compliance status, your track record with Chinese distributors.

In practice, that means writing content the way you’d brief a translator, not the way you’d write ad copy: specific numbers, specific claims, structured clearly enough that a model can extract them without guessing. We cover the mechanics in our guide to GEO in China, and separately, WeChat’s own integration of DeepSeek inside its search function is changing how brands get discovered inside the app itself.

Cross-District Returns: Cheaper Market Testing

Until this year, a cross-border e-commerce seller whose product didn’t move had to route the return through the exact customs office it was shipped from, often the wrong side of the country from where the unsold stock actually sat. Since April 2026, that requirement is gone nationwide: returns can go through whichever customs port makes logistical sense. Combined with the export duty refund on goods returned within six months, testing a new SKU in China now costs meaningfully less than it did two years ago if it doesn’t sell through.

Private Domain and KOC-Led Discovery

Chinese consumers increasingly trust a recommendation from a mid-sized creator (a KOC, or key opinion consumer) who genuinely uses a product, over a large celebrity endorsement. For an exporter with a limited budget, that’s good news: a handful of well-chosen KOC partnerships on Xiaohongshu or Douyin, paired with a private domain WeChat group where early buyers can ask questions directly, often outperforms a single expensive campaign.

A Real Case: How Bruno Turned a Stalled Tmall Listing into a Working Channel

Bruno runs a family-owned Portuguese canned fish brand, tinned sardines and mackerel, three generations old, solid in Portugal and steady in France and the US. In 2025, he decided China was next.

His first move was the obvious one: list on Tmall Global through an overseas fulfillment partner, in English, and let the platform do the work. It didn’t. The first shipment sat at customs for six weeks over a labeling review, because the tins didn’t carry a compliant Chinese nutrition label under GB 7718. Once the listing finally went live, it sold 340 tins in three months, barely enough to cover the TP partner’s minimum service fee, let alone turn a profit.

What changed things wasn’t a bigger ad budget. It was two fixes, in order. First, Bruno’s team pre-cleared GB 7718 compliant labeling before the next shipment left Portugal, which meant no more customs holds. Second, and this is the part that actually moved sales, they stopped positioning the tins as generic imported seafood and leaned into 罐头经济, the “canned food economy” trend that had made tinned fish genuinely fashionable among younger Chinese consumers as a retro, convenient, slightly indulgent snack. They ran a small seeding campaign with a dozen Xiaohongshu KOCs styling the tins as a lifestyle object, not a pantry staple.

It worked because it matched a trend that was already there instead of trying to create one. Within five months, monthly sales went from near zero to roughly 4,000 tins, and the repeat purchase rate settled around 18%, which for a first-time export brand with no local team is a healthy signal that the product, not just the promotion, was landing.

How to Successfully Export to China

Whatever option you choose, you need to build your online reputation through digital marketing and offline events (trade fairs and exhibitions).

Adapting to Chinese Consumers: Localization

Roughly half of foreign brands fail in China because they don’t adjust to their target audience. Attracting Chinese consumers means understanding trends at that exact moment and reacting fast.

China moves fast, so you have to match that pace, and stay ready to shift your plans as consumer needs change. Adapting isn’t optional if you want to deliver a good user experience.

Lancôme’s website

A Chinese website is a good place to start, and it’s also what your ranking on Baidu depends on.

Dior on Baidu

A Smart Digital Marketing Strategy Is Essential

Adapting your product for the Chinese market is a real challenge for most companies. Packaging that works well in France or Russia will often need a redesign for China.

In most cases, the foreign company has to make changes, because Chinese consumers live thousands of miles away and, logically, don’t share the same tastes, needs, or expectations, especially since foreign brands are generally priced higher than domestic ones.

Branding your product: China is a brand-driven market. Asian consumers are attached to brand identity because of the concepts of face and image. Branding is essential if you want to convince Chinese consumers to buy.

Liu Yifei for Shiseido

Communication: this is probably the most important piece if you’re just entering the market. You need to show Chinese consumers what you have, clearly, so they notice your brand in the first place.

Your communication strategy has to be adapted to China, so working with people who already know the terrain is worth the cost. The main channels remain WeChat, Weibo, Xiaohongshu, and Douyin.

Nature Republic on Weibo
Li-Ning on Douyin
Ferrero on WeChat

Marketing tools: even in B2B, the right tools matter. Use what’s available to you to work more efficiently and, in the end, get a better return.

Select your distribution channel: as covered earlier, you need a distribution channel for your products, a trustworthy distributor, or a solid way to distribute your goods, through cross-border e-commerce platforms, for example.

Execution: the biggest problem foreign companies face in China is execution, not strategy. The cultural gap between Western and Chinese business practices is real, but the bigger issue is that foreign companies are too slow to adapt and act on their plan for the Chinese market.

Success requires planning everything ahead of time and staying reactive. At GMA, we help companies plan their communication, advertising, and marketing strategy while keeping an eye on the latest trends.

FAQ: Exporting to China

Do I need a company registered in China to export there?
Not always. Cross-border e-commerce platforms like Tmall Global or JD Worldwide let you sell without a local entity, as long as you partner with a certified operator (a TP) who handles registration, logistics, and compliance. A local entity becomes worth it once you’re selling at real volume, want a brick-and-mortar presence, or need direct control over pricing and customer data.

How long does it take to get products listed and selling in China?
Through a cross-border e-commerce TP, plan for 6 to 10 weeks: label compliance, platform onboarding, and store setup. A local business license and brick-and-mortar route usually takes 3 to 6 months. Whichever route you choose, sort out labeling and certification before your first shipment, not after, since that’s the most common cause of a customs hold.

What’s the real difference between cross-border e-commerce and general trade?
Cross-border e-commerce (CBEC) treats each parcel as a personal import, with simplified tax and no need for a full import license, but it caps order value and isn’t built for bulk B2B trade. General trade requires full customs clearance, standard import duties, and usually a local entity or agent, but it’s the only route for large volumes or B2B sales. Most brands start on CBEC to test demand, then move part of their volume to general trade once sales justify it.

Do I need a Chinese trademark before I start selling?
Yes, and ideally before your first shipment, not after your first sale. China is first-to-file: if someone else registers your brand name before you do, they own it in China, and you’ll have very little recourse. Trademark registration typically takes 9 to 12 months, so start the filing as soon as you decide China is a market you’re serious about.

How much budget should I set aside for marketing versus logistics?
There’s no fixed ratio, but a workable starting split for a first-year test is roughly 60% marketing (content, KOC seeding, platform ads) and 40% logistics and compliance (labeling, customs, TP fees). Underfunding marketing is the more common mistake: a compliant product that nobody has heard of doesn’t sell itself, even on a well-built storefront.

Can I test the China market without setting up a legal entity there?
Yes. This is exactly what cross-border e-commerce and Chinese agents exist for. You can list through a TP on Tmall Global or JD Worldwide, or sell through a local agent who already holds the license you’d otherwise need, and postpone entity setup until you know the demand is real.

Ready to Export to China? Contact Us Today!

We’ve helped companies, from large international groups to small and mid-sized brands, enter the Chinese market successfully. We work with more than 70 international experts across food and drinks, alcoholic beverages, fashion, footwear, luxury, cosmetics, new technologies, video games, aviation, baby products, and more.

gma

With international and native Chinese experts on the same team, we understand the Chinese market from both sides. With more than 20 years of combined experience, we help you identify your competitors and define the right strategy for communication, advertising, and marketing.

Working with our team saves you the trial and error, so you can focus on refining your marketing strategy while we handle the parts that need local expertise: compliance, platform relationships, and market positioning.

Fashion-Case-Studies-GMA

Contact us today to talk through what exporting to China would actually look like for your brand.

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