Fujian Suppliers: Jinjiang Shoes and Sportswear, Shuitou Stone, Dehua Porcelain

Southern Fujian is one of China's biggest bases for footwear, sportswear and apparel, and much more. Jinjiang and Shishi are home to many of China's own sportswear brands and thousands of shoe and garment factories. Putian makes huge numbers of shoes. Shuitou in Nan'an is a center of the natural stone trade, Dehua is known for porcelain, and Xiamen has stone, electronics, and many export trading companies.

For buyers, the main risks here are the gap between sample and bulk production, outsourced processes nobody mentions, and, in footwear, the risk of being offered copies of famous brands. This guide covers what to check before you pay a Fujian supplier.

Brand copies: a risk you should refuse outright

Some Fujian sellers, especially of sneakers, offer products that copy well-known brands, sometimes described as "original quality" or "factory surplus". These goods are counterfeit. They can be seized by customs in your country, you can lose the goods and the money, and you can face legal claims. A real factory that makes shoes for brands under contract does not sell those brands' products to third parties. If a supplier offers branded goods without written authorization from the brand owner, do not buy.

Shoes and sportswear: sample room versus production line

Fujian factories often have excellent sample rooms. Your sample may be made by the most skilled people in the company, with the best materials, while bulk goods are made on a different line or outsourced to a smaller factory nearby.

• On the video call, ask to see the cutting, stitching and lasting lines, and the sole production or the sole supplier, with your type of shoe on the line.

• Write the materials into the order: upper material and thickness, lining, sole compound, insole, and glue system.

• Ask which processes are outsourced: soles, printing, embroidery, and in apparel, dyeing and printing.

• Ask for physical tests on the bulk production: sole bonding strength, abrasion and flexing for shoes; color fastness and shrinkage for apparel.

• Check chemical compliance for your market, for example restricted substances in leather and textiles, with test reports issued for your materials.

Stone from Shuitou and Xiamen

Stone is bought by the square meter or by the container, and the risks are about the material and the processing.

• Origin and type. Many stones sold in Fujian are imported blocks processed locally. Ask what the stone is, where the block came from, and see photos or video of the slabs you are buying, not a showroom sample.

• Thickness and tolerance. Write slab thickness, size tolerance and flatness into the order and measure them at inspection.

• Finishing and defects. Polishing quality, color consistency between slabs, cracks, resin filling and backing mesh.

• Packing. Crates for stone are heavy and break. Check crate strength and loading, because transport damage is common.

Porcelain from Dehua

For tableware, check whether the glaze and decoration meet the lead and cadmium limits of your market, with a test report for your product. For decorative porcelain, check breakage rates and packing. Ask whether the company fires in its own kilns or buys finished pieces and decorates them.

Registration first

Whatever the product, ask for the full registered name and unified social credit code, and check business scope, registered address against the factory, social insurance headcount and court records. Xiamen has many export trading companies, so check whether your supplier makes the product or buys it. The full list is in how to verify a Chinese supplier: 12 checks before you pay.

Questions to send a Fujian supplier first

Send these before you discuss price.

1. What is your full company name in Chinese and your unified social credit code?

2. Is the factory that makes the bulk order the same one that made my sample? Where is it?

3. Which processes are outsourced, and to whom?

4. What materials are used for each component, and can you write them into the contract?

5. Which physical and chemical tests will you run on bulk production, and in which lab?

6. For stone: where are the blocks from, and can I see the actual slabs before cutting?

7. Can we do a live video call on the production line this week?

Payment and inspection

• Pay a company account in the name on the contract.

• Keep a sealed approved sample for each style and color.

• Link the balance to an inspection against the approved sample, with measurements and the agreed tests. See pre-shipment inspection.

When to ask me to check

Ask for an independent check when a Fujian supplier cannot show the line that will make your bulk order, when a trading company in Xiamen presents itself as the factory, when a stone supplier will not show the actual slabs, or when you want bulk production checked against the sample before you pay the balance.

Supplier verification costs US$79 per supplier, or US$60 each for five or more, and takes 3 to 5 business days. Pre-shipment inspection starts from US$299 per day. For apparel and leather goods in Guangdong, see Guangzhou suppliers. All regions are in the guide to China's manufacturing regions.

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LocalAuditChina is an independent verification service, not a certification body. Reports are findings to support your purchasing decision.