China Business Cast

Ep. 117: Sourcing from China

Episode Summary

Your current China Business Cast podcast hosts, Lina and Simon, joined an event about Sourcing from China with Lithuanian entrepreneurs and companies organized by Verslo Zinios. As the China Business Cast originally started 8 years ago with sharing advice on sourcing from China we wanted to use this episode to describe the changes that took place in the past years. The biggest changes we recently see is the trend of transforming Supply Chain into Demand Chain. China is already ready for this trend, but are you? Let's tune in!

Episode Notes

Lina being Lithuanian herself was asked to find an experienced executive to share his or her thoughts on Sourcing from China. Simon to agreed to be interviewed by Lina in this exclusive interview. 

About Simon de Raadt:

Simon de Raadt is currently the Vice President Europe at a Chinese E-commerce company called HyperSKU. He is also shareholder at a Dutch B2B trading company exporting products from and importing to China. Having lived in China since 2011, he is an experienced executive in cross-border trade, sourcing and logistics. Not just as an executive, but also someone who has sourced thousands of products, visited hundreds of Chinese factories, executed quality controls and exported thousands of containers. His expertise has positioned him as an industry thought leader and sought-after speaker at China Business related events.

About Lina Bartusevičiūtė:

Originally Lithuanian, she has lived in Shanghai since 2009. She speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese, and started out as an interpreter for business and negotiations. Lina soon found that language is just the first barrier in cross-cultural projects, so she did a Master's degree (in Chinese) and upon graduation opened a boutique cross-cultural business consulting firm LITAO in 2015. 

LITAO works on bringing the world’s best products and ideas to China by building sustainable market entry solutions, managing B2B sales and helping the foreigners understand how the Chinese think. 

Episode content:

Topics discussed:

• What is the value of using a local partner in China for sourcing and supporting your products.
• What is the process for sourcing products.
• What is the advantage of a trading company
• When to use a trading company and when to use with manufacturer
• How to deal with a frustrating YES to all your questions
• Real case studies on sourcing mistakes and tips to avoid them
• How to deal with production errors and mistakes
• The biggest changes in supply chain in the past 10 years and the recent 2 years
• The change from supply (pull) to demand chain (push)
• Examples of demand chain such as dropshipping
• How Chinese suppliers have adapted to demand chain

Episode Mentions:

• This recording was part of the webinar of Verslo Zinios Academia that took place on 30th April 2021. For the full program go to https://akademija.vz.lt/pirkimai-kinijoje/programa/
• More info about the organizers Verslo Zinios at https://www.vz.lt/

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