China’s position in international manufacturing has lengthy been outlined by scale, however the guidelines of procurement are shifting. Quicker cycles, smaller batches, and an emphasis on rising applied sciences are reshaping how firms supply elements.
That was the message popping out of Shanghai this summer season, the place on-line customized manufacturing market Haizol Market convened its eighth Provider Discovery and Sourcing Breakthrough Convention and launched the findings of its 2025 Customized Components and Parts Sourcing Survey.
The survey supplies an in depth have a look at the pressures and alternatives shaping procurement. Greater than 220 procurement representatives and 1,054 manufacturing unit delegates contributed by way of questionnaires and interviews, with help from the Shanghai Municipal Fee of Commerce and the Xuhui District Individuals’s Authorities.
What emerged was a transparent image of patrons looking for velocity and specialization, and of Chinese language suppliers needing to adapt as a way to keep seen.
China’s manufacturing spine
On the middle of this story are China’s small and medium-sized producers. Numbering greater than 4 million, they make use of over 80% of the commercial workforce, maintain a lot of the nation’s manufacturing patents, and produce elements that preserve industries from automotive to medical tools working.
But many stay invisible to worldwide patrons. Few function digital quoting programs or searchable catalogs, and even in dense industrial areas like Suzhou or Dongguan, collaboration throughout workshops is uncommon. This leaves a paradox: the world is on the lookout for specialised suppliers, whereas lots of China’s most succesful factories stay troublesome to search out.
Survey responses present simply how a lot demand is tilting towards future-facing industries. Over half of the procurement representatives got here from robotics, aerospace, semiconductors, new power, and medical expertise.
Robotics alone accounted for 11%, the biggest single group. Greater than 60 sub-sectors have been represented, with conventional fields reminiscent of equipment and automotive joined by fast-growing areas like micro-electronics, low-altitude aviation, and biotech.
The form of procurement itself can be altering. A majority of patrons, 52.5%, reported annual procurement under $1.4 million (¥10 million), reflecting a choice for small-batch, high-variety orders fulfilled on brief timelines.
Bigger patrons are nonetheless current, with 15% sourcing greater than $7 million (¥50 million) yearly and 6% above $14 million (¥100 million), however flexibility is now a defining function. Fee practices mirror this shift: 43% of firms work on 30-day phrases, 31% favor pre-payment or money settlement, and simply 6% prolong to 90-day cycles.
Geography provides one other layer of complexity. Suppliers from 97 cities have been represented within the survey, with 83% primarily based within the Yangtze River Delta round Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang. Others got here from Guangdong, Shandong, Hebei, and Sichuan, underscoring the depth of China’s provide base, unfold throughout each high-tech clusters and lower-cost regional hubs.
This mixture of scale, functionality, and inaccessibility defines China’s industrial base, highlighting each its important position and the limitations that preserve a lot of it out of worldwide attain.
Obstacles and alternatives
Even with these advances, longstanding structural points stay. Many workshops stay confined to a single sector regardless of having tools that could possibly be tailored for a number of purposes. Capability-sharing is proscribed, even in areas with lots of of suppliers in shut proximity.
And with out digital quoting programs or searchable catalogs, SMEs stay reliant on intermediaries who add value, decelerate transactions, and scale back transparency. These obstacles go a great distance towards explaining why a lot of China’s technical capability stays untapped by international procurement groups.
The image that emerges is of a provide base in transition. Procurement is now not outlined just by giant orders and lengthy timelines. As a substitute, the survey factors to a system more and more formed by velocity, specialization, and direct engagement with producers. That is exactly the house the place Haizol has positioned its market.
By organizing suppliers not by title or location however by verified capabilities, the platform allows patrons to submit requests and obtain a number of comparable quotations, whereas AI-driven instruments filter choices to match actual specs.
In doing so, Haizol addresses the visibility and belief gaps which have lengthy stood between international procurement groups and China’s SMEs. The 2025 survey exhibits sourcing is transferring away from scale towards agility, precision, and structured entry, a shift Haizol’s mannequin helps by enabling patrons and suppliers to attach extra immediately, effectively, and transparently.
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Featured picture exhibits international patrons meet Chinese language suppliers at Haizol’s 2025 convention. Picture by way of Haizol.
