Find clothing suppliers in China: 3 tips from local experts
China manufactures 65% of the world's clothing. With abundant raw materials, mature production chains, skilled workers, and highly cooperative factories, it's the perfect place to source your supplies. Today, I'll share three quick tips to help you find the best clothing manufacturers in China.
Where to find clothing factories? Alibaba or Hisuper?
How to leverage clothing clusters to find the right suppliers?
Where to buy the cheapest clothes in China? (8 stock markets)
How to find clothing manufacturers in China?
Alibaba
If you're looking for trendy clothing with dozens or hundreds of styles, especially women's fashion, Alibaba is the place to go. There, you'll find endless ready-to-ship options.
If you want to customize niche fashions like suits or evening dresses, Alibaba also has many suppliers. However, you'll need to spend some time finding factories that specialize in these garments. Request garment samples and compare them. Then, place a small order to test and evaluate the supplier before committing to a wholesale order.
Always remember to check the quality of the garment before shipping it from China.
If you are dedicated to:
Private label or POD businesses for simple, everyday clothing, such as t-shirts, sweatshirts, leggings, yoga suits, activewear, pet clothes, etc.
Custom underwear, lingerie, sports bras, baby and children's clothing.
Diabetic socks, medical compression stockings, marathon socks, and more for sports.
Activewear such as tennis skirts, running vests, and more.
Doll clothes, sun protection clothing, and hats for children and adults.
Standard workwear, safety clothing, life jackets, sand and wind protection suits, and more functional garments.
Hisuper is your best partner. Based in the Yangtze River Delta (China's leading apparel manufacturing cluster), they have established an extensive network of local apparel factories of all sizes, most of which are not available on Alibaba.
And, thanks to their good relationships, they can quickly find suitable factories to produce the clothing you want, even for small orders. Especially for POD clothing items, such as T-shirts, they can handle orders of as few as 50 pieces and ship them via international courier, with delivery within a week. The total sourcing cost is lower compared to local POD companies.
With over 10 years of experience in garment sourcing and customization, they can help you every step of the way. Just talk to them.
How to leverage textile industry clusters to find the right suppliers?
Choosing suppliers located in textile industry clusters not only helps you get better prices, but also makes it easier to find factories willing to handle small, custom orders.
Major industrial clusters include:
Yangtze River Delta, which includes Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui.
Pearl River Delta, which includes Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan and more industrial cities in Guangdong.
Fujian, known for its sports and casual wear.
Liaoning, famous for the production of swimwear.
Fun fact: Guangdong and Fujian are home to many luxury clothing manufacturers. If you're looking for high-quality replicas of designer fashions like Chanel, suppliers in these two regions can usually provide what you're looking for. For shipping, suppliers often work with carriers and use specific channels. Keep in mind that there's always some risk during customs clearance.
Women's clothing
Women's clothing enjoys consistent demand year-round and comes in a variety of styles, including dresses, skirts, blouses, and pants. The women's apparel industry is primarily concentrated in Guangzhou, Dongguan, and Shenzhen, as well as in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province.
Children's clothing
Children's clothing is the second-largest category in the apparel market. The largest children's clothing center is Zhili Town, Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province, home to more than 14,000 children's clothing enterprises, producing approximately 1.5 billion pieces (or sets) of children's clothing annually.
In addition, Guangzhou and Shishi in Fujian also have many children's clothing factories.
Men's clothing
Men's clothing is mainly produced in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, and Shishi, Fujian Province.
Leggings
Yiwu produces enough leggings each year to circle the Earth 30 times. More than half of China's leggings are made by elderly women in Yiwu. While fabric and labor costs are similar, Yiwu factories are more inclined to accept low-profit orders, which other industrial cities might reject due to tight margins.
T-shirts and hoodies
The T-shirts are mainly produced in Puning City, Guangdong Province, and Dachen Town in Yiwu City, Zhejiang Province. In Shandong, Qingdao's Jimo District is known as the "Hometown of Sweaters," where many popular sweater brands, such as Gap, are manufactured.
Underwear
Shantou, in Guangdong Province, produces more than half of China's underwear, offering the widest range of bras and underwear. It is also a major production center for sleepwear.
Yiwu, known as the “seamless knitwear capital of China,” produces 70% of China’s seamless bras and underwear.
Lingerie
Seventy percent of the world's sexy lingerie is produced in Guanyun County, Lianyungang City, Jiangsu Province. Most of the factories here employ older women as laborers.
Other key production centers are Yiwu and Guangzhou, which cover a wide range of products, from lingerie to other adult items.
Socks
Yiwu produces enough leggings each year to circle the Earth 30 times. More than half of China's leggings are made by elderly women in Yiwu. While fabric and labor costs are similar, Yiwu factories are more likely to accept low-profit orders, which other industrial cities might reject due to tight margins.
Cowboy clothing
Denim clothing is primarily manufactured in Guangzhou, Foshan, and Dongguan in Guangdong Province. More than 60% of China's denim clothing comes from Xintang Town, Guangzhou, the true denim capital.
Swimsuits
Around 50% of China's swimwear is produced in Xingcheng, Huludao, Liaoning Province, with a 20% global market share. Other key production centers are Jinjiang, Fujian Province, and Yiwu, Zhejiang Province.
Wedding dresses
Wedding dresses and formal wedding suits for men are mainly concentrated in:
Huqiu Bridal City in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, accounts for 70% of China's total wedding dress production and trade and is also the leading wedding dress center in Southeast Asia.
Dingji Town, Liuan City, Anhui Province: More than half of the wedding dresses sold by Suzhou merchants are made in Dingji.
Guangzhou Bridal Street is another important wedding dress trading center in China.
Down jackets
Pinghu City, in Zhejiang Province, is known as the "down jacket capital." It produces 80% of China's down jackets, both finished garments and accessory materials.
Where to buy the cheapest clothes in China?
Is it possible to sell clothes by weight or for as little as $1 or $2 each? Yes! These aren't defective items, but rather surplus stock from overproduction or canceled orders, which are sold to wholesale buyers at a discount of up to 80% off the factory price.
Wholesale in-stock clothing requires minimum order quantities (such as 20,000 pieces), not smaller quantities of a few hundred. Suppliers need volume to make a profit.
China's surplus clothing stock market is primarily concentrated in Guangzhou and Yiwu. Before diving into the top eight inventory markets, let's first look at the two types of clothing stock:
Mixed styles: Sold in bulk bags. You can't choose specific styles or sizes; it's like buying surprise packages. They're suitable for street vendors or live promotions.
Complete styles: You can choose specific styles. Some styles may have limited stock, and suppliers may ask you to purchase the entire remaining quantity.
1. Guang Da Clothing Trade Town (广大服饰商贸城)
As the oldest and most famous inventory market in Guangzhou, Guang Da Clothing Trade City (广大服饰商贸城) has 2 phases:
Phase 1 is primarily for men's and women's fashion.
Phase 2 includes specialized sections such as leather goods, children's clothing, denim, etc.
This market attracts many international buyers.
No.8, Shitan West Road, Shijing Town, Baiyun District, Guangzhou (广州市白云区石井镇石潭西路8号).
2. Jindong Clothing Market (锦东国际服装城)
It's one of the first inventory marketplaces focused on livestreaming supply chains. Divided into three areas (Zones A, B, and C), it primarily offers men's and women's clothing, with a small selection of children's clothing. This marketplace is known for offering many clearance items from leading brands, suitable for businesses looking to source high-quality clothing for resale.
No.2, Fengming Road, Shijing Town, Baiyun District, Guangzhou (广州市白云区石井镇凤鸣路2号).
3. Yinma International Clothing City (银马国际服装城)
Yinma specializes in clearance sales of national and international brands, surrounded by discount brand outlets. It's a good fit for companies that deal in brand-name clearance clothing.
NO.6, Shijing Avenue, Shijing Town, Baiyun District, Guangzhou (广州市白云区石井大道6号).
4. Qingfeng Clothing Wholesale Market (Inventory) 庆丰纺织城 (尾货市场)
Qingfeng Market focuses primarily on mid- and low-end stock clothing, suitable for livestream and street vendors. Phase 1 offers lower prices compared to Phase 2, but the styles available here are less fashionable than those in Phase 2.
NO.28, Shifeng Road, Shijing Town, Baiyun District, Guangzhou (广州市白云区石井镇石丰路28号).
5. Shijing Hongxing Inventory Village (石井红星尾货村)
When looking for inventory clothing in Guangzhou, you should visit Hongxing Village, home to hundreds of large and small inventory warehouses, primarily focused on women's clothing.
Here you will find products from Guangzhou's popular clothing markets: Shisanhang (十三行), Shahe (沙河) and Wanjia (万佳).
Hongxing Bridge Bus Station, Shijing Town, Baiyun District, Guangzhou (广州市白云区石井镇红星桥公交站).
6. Changgang Wholesale Clothing Market (昌岗尾货服装批发市场)
A large portion of the clothing at Changgang Market is surplus export products. They offer men's and children's clothing, but women's fashion is the most prevalent. This market is ideal for companies focusing on mid- to low-end apparel. The Changgang Market includes
Mingguan Garment City (名冠服装城), a 3-story building where the first and second floors are dedicated to women's fashion, while the third floor is dedicated to men's clothing.
Along Mingguan (名冠服装城), there are many small alleys; within these alleys, you will find numerous large and small stores selling stock clothing at low prices.
NO.187, Jinchang Building, Changgang Middle Road, Haizhu District, Guangzhou (广州市海珠区昌岗中路187号金昌大厦).
7. Meihu Stock Street (梅湖库存专业街)
Intersection of Meihu Stock 2nd Street and Binwang Road, Yiwu (义乌梅湖库存二街与宾王路交叉口）
8. Wuai Stock Street (五爱库存专业街)
No. 1, Unit 1, Building 58, Zone C, Wuai Town, Yiwu (义乌五爱村C区58幢1单元1号）
Meihu and Wuai are nearby and offer similar clothing inventory. You can find all kinds of clothing categories here. You'll also find inventory of accessories, toys, shoes, bags, and more.
