Lately, we’ve been helping clients source new products and connect with reliable suppliers. We went to quite a few trade shows and every fair had surprises. So today, come along with our sourcing agents to the interesting fairs we visited.
Wholesale Auto Parts at Half the OEM Price
You might not drive a Chinese car but you’ve definitely used auto parts made in China. That’s because China’s auto parts industry covers everything. Different regions have become specialized industrial hubs for specific components:
- Lightning: Ruian
- Tires: Shandong
- Engines: Anhui (where Chery’s engine factory located)
- Plastic auto parts: Changzhou
Sourcing from these places seperately takes serious time and effort. So you can go China’s wholesale auto parts trade shows, all the key suppliers gather in one place. We saw everything from truck tires and custom lighting for car modifications to $250 factory-priced taillights for Japanese cars and catalytic converters with a MOQ of just 10 units. All could be customized with your own branding and packaging.
Our sourcing agent Karen came this time to check out pricing of Japanese cars aftermarket parts for client. We found a supplier from Danyang, a city that’s known for upgrading kits for old cars. They specialize in made standardized spec with OEM-level quality, but at less than half the price. For example, a full upgrade kit for a Toyota Land Cruiser, including exterior and interior parts , costs about $4,000. The same set from the original manufacturer is at least $10,000.
Best Deals Aren’t on Alibaba or Canton Fair
We took a 200 kilometers trip to check out the Ningbo Stationery Fair. This expo has over 2,000 stationery suppliers, almost twice the number at the Canton Fair, and 90% of the products are for export. But surprisingly, we didn’t see any foreign buyers there. Most of these factories don’t deal directly with overseas clients. Instead, they mainly supply Chinese trading companies or e-commerce sellers like those on Amazon.
There were no English-speaking staff at most booths. We did spot one foreign buyer — KZ’s from Russia and has been living in China for 10 years, so he speaks fluent Chinese. “This is where you get the lowest sourcing cost,” he told us.
We also found machines that fill ink for pen refills. One machine can produce up to 3,000 pens a day, and costs only $2,000.
20% Cheaper Than Our Packaging Suppliers
At China’s largest packaging expo, our sourcing agent Joe was on a mission: to scout out backup box packaging suppliers. Beyond the usual packaging options — plastic, paper boxes, glass bottles, this expo also had eco-friendly materials, like water-based films and biodegradable plastics.
After compare several options, Joe were surprised to find that many of them were offering prices 20% lower than the ones we’re currently working with. How is that even possible? Turns out, all these suppliers had one thing in common: they’re all based in China’s inland provinces.
According to one supplier, their factory used to be in Wenzhou, a coastal city in eastern China. But now, they’ve moved more than 1,200 kilometers inland to Henan, where rent and labor costs are much lower. That shift helped them keep production costs down.
Gamified Rehab Machines, AI, and Exoskeletons
Unlike the typical trade shows we attend, the 2025 China International Medical Equipment Fair (CMEF) felt more like an interactive clinic. People were lying down, stretching, and testing out medical equipments.
We spotted some cool products, like gamified rehab machines that turn painful physical therapy into a video game, and head massagers with built-in music feel like at a spa. There were smart pill boxes combined with clocks, so they double as medication reminders. Impressively, we saw an AI-powered hair transplant robot that achieves a 95% follicle survival rate and 40% fewer errors than manual procedures.
But the moment that truly stayed with us was this: an exoskeleton suit helped a young boy with lower-body paralysis stand up again. This wearable robotic device is already being used for rehab and walking assistance. Maybe one day, it’ll help people who can’t walk regain their mobility.
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