Distributors Another Way to Get Into China

I often get calls from companies that want to get their product into China or increase sales there. Many times, they are under the false impression that they have two choices: go it alone or form a joint venture with a Chinese company. Entering into a distributorship relationship with a Chinese company (or companies) is another option. From a strictly legal perspective, distribution relationships between foreign and Chinese companies are actually fairly straightforward and are far easier and generally less risky than joint venture deals and typically far less costly and time consuming than going it alone.

-Dan Harris, China Law Blog

Here at Technomic Asia we do a lot of work for companies entering China (or already in China and seeking new channels, strategies and consumers) to sell their products and services. On the product side of things finding, vetting, working closely with and sharing the responsibilities with a distributor, or several of them, is a key to successfully marketing and selling your consumer products and in some cases B2B products as well. We largely focus on the market assessment, entry strategy, implementation and build out and where needed, Supply Chain services. A key part of our process is the assessment of and relationship building with channel, specialty, municipal, provincial and national distributors across several categories.

As he does regularly, Dan Harris author of the China Law Blog clearly, concisely and accurately describes the legal issues around China contracts and legal issues in distributor relationships. His post is a must read for anyone interested in the China market.