What a China Sourcing Agent Does: A Yiwu Guide
Buyers often ask what a sourcing agent actually does, and where the service stops. This article sets out, concretely, what we handle as a Yiwu-based trading company and one-stop sourcing agent, what we do not do, and how cooperation usually works for a buyer travelling to China. It also covers the visa routes that matter when you plan the trip.
What We Do: The Core Services
Sourcing and Factory Matching
You tell us the product, the material, the workmanship and your target price. We then match your requirement against partner factories inside China. Because we are based in Yiwu, we buy from the local market and from our partner-factory network across the country. We are a trading company and a one-stop sourcing agent — we work with partner factories and a supplier network, and we do not own production lines.
Quality Checks and Pre-Shipment Records
Our team inspects samples and production batches on request, and provides photo or video self-check records before shipment. You may also appoint your own inspection company to check the goods on site.
Export Documents
We prepare the shipping documents on FOB Yiwu terms and coordinate with the freight forwarder you appoint. Note the boundary: the forwarder is your choice, and the contract of carriage is between you and that forwarder.
Certificates
Certificates are issued by the partner factory. We verify the certificates the partner factory provides and check them against your target-market requirements, such as CE, SABER or NOM. Certificates and test reports are available on request. We do not issue certificates ourselves.
Video Inspection Before You Book a Flight
You can book a live video call with us and see the goods and the packing on camera — at the Yiwu market, in our warehouse, or at a partner factory. The call must be booked in advance and you send the list of items you want to see, so we can prepare before the connection. This is a practical way to confirm the goods and the site before deciding whether to travel, and it can be used before you book your flight to China.
What Happens on the Day You Visit Yiwu
Visits are by appointment. Booking works in three steps: you send the dates you plan to be in Yiwu and the products or factories you want to see; we reply and confirm the arrangements before you travel; and we then tell you whether to come to the office address or the warehouse address, depending on what you want to view.
On the visit day, six things can be arranged: sourcing and matching; buying at the Yiwu market; quality checks as required; export documents on FOB Yiwu; a visit to the partner factory handling your order, where you may also designate your own inspection company; and certificate verification against your target market. We do not publish a fixed hour-by-hour itinerary for the visit day, and we do not have a photo gallery of our premises — the alternative is the live video call described above.
What We Do Not Do
Honesty about the edges of the service saves time later:
- We are not a manufacturer. We are a trading company and one-stop sourcing agent working with partner factories and a supplier network.
- We do not issue certificates. They come from the partner factory; we verify them.
- We do not choose your freight forwarder. We prepare FOB Yiwu documents and work with the forwarder you appoint.
- We do not provide invitation letters or visa assistance. We currently do not offer this, and nothing in this article should be read as a promise of it.
- We do not publish a fixed hourly schedule for visit days.
How the Visa Side Works
This affects your travel planning, so it is worth separating the routes clearly.
Unilateral visa-free entry (30 days). Holders of ordinary passports travelling to China for business, tourism, family visits, exchange visits or transit for no more than 30 days may enter without a visa; those who do not meet the conditions still need to obtain a visa before entry. The duration of stay counts from 00:00 of the day after entry. This policy is valid until 31 December 2026.
The 11-country list is not one single arrangement. Nine countries are covered by China's unilateral visa-free policy: four GCC countries (Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain) and five South American countries (Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Uruguay). Two countries — the UAE and Qatar — are covered by mutual visa-exemption agreements, which are bilateral arrangements rather than a unilateral Chinese policy. Under a mutual visa-exemption agreement, no expiry date is set by this article. The common conditions for all 11 countries are the same: ordinary passport, business, tourism, family visits, exchange visits or transit not exceeding 30 days.
No invitation letter is needed for visa-free entry. The invitation letter is one of the supporting documents for an M (business) visa application and is unrelated to visa-free entry.
African buyers. No African country appears on the 30-day visa-free list of 11 countries, and none appears on the 240-hour transit visa-free list of 57 countries. African buyers normally apply for a business (M) visa; the invitation letter is usually issued by their Chinese supplier or partner, not by us. The route is open — it requires a visa, nothing more. African buyers come to Yiwu in large numbers today on business visas.
Verifying the Companies You Deal With
Two official channels let you check a Chinese supplier yourself. The National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System, run under the market regulation authority, publishes registration and filing information, annual reports, administrative penalties and abnormal-operation status; enter the company name or unified social credit code to query it. Separately, China Customs publishes enterprise credit levels — advanced certified, certified, regular, dishonest and seriously dishonest — and advanced certified and certified enterprises are China's Authorized Economic Operators (AEO). Checking whether a supplier holds AEO status gives you an official reference point on its export compliance record.
One boundary matters for disputes: the 12315 complaint channel handles consumer disputes — purchases for personal, living consumption. Buying for resale or business purposes is not "consumption for living needs", so a 12315 complaint may not be accepted; B2B contract disputes are mainly handled through mediation, arbitration and litigation. For cross-border commercial disputes, the CCPIT Commercial Legal Service Center accepts mediation applications from both parties jointly or from one party alone, and covers trade, transport, insurance and logistics.
Next Step
If you are planning a sourcing trip, send us your travel dates and the products you want to review, and we will confirm the arrangements before you travel. If you prefer to start remotely, book a live video call and share your item list. Contact us for a quotation or to arrange a visit in Yiwu.
Policy status
- This arrangement is currently in effect until 31 December 2026 (2026-12-31; policy checked 16 September 2026).
Policies can change. Please confirm with your local Chinese embassy or consulate before travelling.
Policy status
- This arrangement is currently in effect until 31 December 2026 (2026-12-31; policy checked 16 September 2026).
Policies can change. Please confirm with your local Chinese embassy or consulate before travelling.
Sources
- F-VISA-0012 — China Consular Service Network (MFA) · National Immigration Administration (NIA) · https://www.nia.gov.cn/n741440/n741577/c1731154/content.html · https://cs.mfa.gov.cn/zytz/202607/t20260721_11988625.html — checked 2026-09-16
- F-VISA-0019 — Official source (visa policy) · https://cs.mfa.gov.cn/zytz/202607/t20260721_11988625.html · https://sa.china-embassy.gov.cn/lsfw/lsbtz/202505/t20250528_11635542.htm · https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/wjbzwfwpt/kzx/tzgg/202504/t20250414_11594222.html · https://cs.mfa.gov.cn/lgk1/201812/t20181214_831234.shtml · https://www.nia.gov.cn/n741440/n741577/c1731154/content.html — checked 2026-09-16
- F-T-0001 — National Immigration Administration (NIA) · Shanghai Municipal Foreign Affairs Office · The State Council of the PRC (gov.cn) · https://wsb.sh.gov.cn/ztzl/lstx/20260820/f4b8510709544ce8a06ef9978055bed9.html — checked 2026-09-16
- F-SVC-0015 — Company confirmation (first-hand, verified with staff) — checked 2026-09-16
- F-SVC-0014 — Company confirmation (first-hand, verified with staff) — checked 2026-09-16
- F-VISA-0013 — National Immigration Administration (NIA) · https://www.nia.gov.cn/n741440/n741577/c1731154/content.html · https://bio.visaforchina.cn/MES4_ZH/qianzhengyewu/jichuzhishi/banliliucheng/551660259878506497.html — checked 2026-09-16
- F-TRUST-0001 — State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) · The State Council of the PRC (gov.cn) · https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/2014-08/23/content_9038.htm · https://www.samr.gov.cn/zw/zfxxgk/fdzdgknr/fgs/art/2023/art_78b9a2a2399e4934b288da28e67e66ba.html · https://www.jiangmen.gov.cn/bmpd/jmsscjdglj/ztzl/kbqy/kbqyqjlct/content/post_2895884.html — checked 2026-09-16
- F-TRUST-0002 — The State Council of the PRC (gov.cn) · General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) · https://www.gov.cn/gongbao/2026/issue_12746/202605/content_7069427.html · http://big5.www.gov.cn/gate/big5/www.gov.cn/gongbao/2026/issue_12746/202605/content_7069427.html — checked 2026-09-16
- F-TRUST-0003 — The State Council of the PRC (gov.cn) · https://www.gov.cn/gongbao/2026/issue_12686/202604/content_7066102.html · http://www.yw.gov.cn/col/col1229449574/art/2026/art_c2cc5c1cb33347458e848f04fb7165f0.html — checked 2026-09-16
- F-TRUST-0004 — China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) · https://www.ccpit.org/italia/a/20230324/20230324k8hz.html · https://www.ccpit.org/ — checked 2026-09-16