A client of ours, based in Australia imported aluminum tubes for cosmetics from China. Our client was well-acquainted with getting quotes from Alibaba.com. So it was not a difficult process for our client.
After choosing one aluminum cosmetic tube supplier, our client proceeded to evaluate their sample quality. After this, an official order was placed.
But then, our client, for “some” reason, was asked to pay into a different account. After two days, they got a call that the suppliers’ email was hacked. Our client suffered a great loss.
When it comes to importing, such horrible things are very common. They happen almost every minute and in every country. And these can lead to a great loss of money.
It’s why I wrote this ultimate guide to guide you through the importation process. This ultimate guide will save you countless money. Every time you deal with a supplier, you will never get lost when you follow these points:
- Know the different industrial clusters in china for cosmetic tubes
- Use specific channels to locate aluminum cosmetic tubes suppliers in China
- Know how to identify real and decent cosmetic packaging tube suppliers
- Know the required documents for importing aluminum tubes for cosmetics in China
- Follow-up with production always.
Industrial Clusters for Aluminum Cosmetic Tubes in China
Every product made in China has its own specific industrial clusters. If you plan on importing aluminum tube cosmetics packaging, you need to know their industrial clusters.
A lot comes into play when importing aluminum cosmetic tubes from China. Which sometimes makes the importation process difficult. Knowing the important industrial clusters for aluminum tubes in China makes importing cosmetic packaging tubes easy.
Knowing the locations of these Chinese industrial clusters is very important. It comes with a whole lot of benefits. Benefits that will be good for your business.
In China, there are different industrial clusters for different products. But one of the most outstanding ones is those connected to manufacturing firms. One strong example is industrial clusters for cosmetic packaging tubes. Let’s look at the aluminum cosmetic tubes industrial clusters in China.
Yangtze River Delta (SuperCluster) Zhejiang
This is one of the largest aluminum cosmetic tube industrial clusters in China. The supercluster plays an important role in growing the economy of China.
The center of the Yangtze River Delta in Shanghai has driven the economic development of China.
The supercluster does not only house industrial clusters for aluminum tubes cosmetics. It also houses new technologies and industries. So it’s best if you import aluminum tubes for cosmetic packaging from this cluster. Because you’re sure all you will be getting is nothing but quality aluminium tube cosmetics.
Geographically, the Yangtze River Delta is located in three main regions. Not just from regions, but also from different provinces.
The SuperCluster is found in the east of Jiangsu Province, in Zhenjiang city. It is found in the northern part of Hangzhou Bay in Zhejiang province. It is also located to the south of the canal leading from Nantong to Yangzhou.
From this, you can tell the supercluster is very large. And your chances of seeing top-quality aluminum tubes cosmetic packaging is increased.
The industrial clusters in the Yangtze River Delta are scattered across the different provinces and cities in those provinces.
For example, it covers about 16 cities in Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces, including the famous municipality of Shanghai. These are within the southern and central parts of Jiangsu province. The whole of Shanghai municipality and the Eastern and northern part of Zhejiang province.
The industrial cluster includes cities like Shanghai, Wuxi, Ningbo, Zhoushan, Taizhou, Nanjing, and several others.
But in all these cities, only a few are into aluminum tubes cosmetic packaging.
These cities are Yuyao City, Ningbo City, Jiaxing City, Cixi City, and Hangzhou City. They are not only involved in the manufacture of aluminum cosmetic tubes. They also specialize in customizing aluminium tubes cosmetics packaging. Making it easier for you to import already customized aluminum cosmetic tubes.
The cities in the Yangtze River Delta industrial clusters have different characteristics. They do not share the same size. Some of the cities are large; some are not. Then there is also the matter of standards and structures of the clusters. However, this is the case, they are all closely linked by technology, talent, and transportation.
So, it is easy to go from one industrial cluster to another. Especially if you go physically to the source for your aluminum tubes cosmetic packaging.
You can decide to visit the Yangtze River Delta industrial clusters for your aluminum cosmetic tubes. If you do, you’ll need to know the three main transport axes. Luckily for you, two of these main transport axes favor you. As they are located in cities that have industrial clusters for aluminum tubes cosmetic packaging.
They are; Shanghai to Hangzhou transport axes. Then the Ningbo to Hangzhou transport axes.
Pearl River Delta Super Cluster
Another important industrial cluster for aluminium tubes cosmetics packaging is the Pearl River Delta. It is a supercluster that was developed in the late 1970s. Before that time, it was mostly composed of agricultural lands.
All that changed in the twenty-first century. The World Bank records in 2015 presented the Pearl River Delta as the largest urban area. This was not only in size but also in population. The process of this growth was not an easy one. But it sure will benefit you now when importing your aluminum cosmetic tubes.
The Pearl River Delta supercluster is located in the Chinese province of Guangdong. And its rise to this level can be attributed to the open-door policy reform in China during the 1980s.
They had one very good reason for the quick development of the supercluster. This was because the country concentrated on manufacturing and exportation. One area is that of aluminum tube cosmetics packaging. This development has made Pearl River Delta one of the most productive super industrial clusters. Not only in China, but in the whole world.
Did you know that in the Pearl River Delta supercluster, there is the Chinese free trade zone?
Although it’s experimental, it still helps. It helps to reduce the stress associated with inter-border investment flow and trade. It also helps to grow the innovation, tech, and domestic services of the clusters.
The Free Trade Zone is located in Guangdong province, which is the same location as the Pearl River Delta. The zone consists of three main regions. The cities like Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and the Foshan, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Zhuhai, Jiangmen. However, the importance of this supercluster spills over to Macau and Hong Kong.
The Pearl River Delta supercluster 2015 has aimed to stay purely industrial. That means you can easily find manufacturers for your aluminum cosmetic tubes. In the super industrial cluster, there’s also space for service delivery. One of such services is the customization of aluminum tubes cosmetic packaging. So you’ll not only get quality aluminum cosmetic tubes. You’ll also customize the aluminum tubes cosmetic packaging to fit your business model.
In the industrial clusters of Pearl River Delta, there are nine main cities. These cities champion the industrial production of any goods. They are closely linked to themselves through several means of transportation.
Examples of cities in the Pearl River Delta are Guangzhou, Dongguan, Shenzhen, Zhaoqinq, Zhongshan, and others. But not all of these are into aluminum tubes and cosmetic packaging.
Cities in the Pearl Delta supercluster involved with aluminium tubes cosmetics packaging are few. The most important ones are Shenzhen and Guangzhou.
Transportation within the Pearl River Delta supercluster is very easy. It has a very complete and effective transportation network. These cover land, air, and sea transportation. There is also a railway that connects Shenzhen and Guangzhou to Hong Kong.
The Pearl River Delta supercluster is not only good for importing aluminum cosmetic tube packaging. It is one of the important links in worldwide trading.
Other industrial clusters in China are worthy of mention.
There are industrial clusters in Guangzhou city and Shenzhen city in Guangdong province. There are also industrial clusters in Wuhan City in Hubei province.
Gongyi, Zhengzhou
This is one of the most popular industrial clusters for aluminum tubes for cosmetic packaging. It is located in the Henan province.
Aluminum Avenue, Xipeng town
This is another aluminum tube industrial cluster. In this cluster, you can also find aluminum foils, sheets, and aluminum plates.
The list continues and it is important to know them to enjoy the benefits that come from it.
Channels to find Chinese Aluminum Cosmetic Tubes Suppliers
Finding aluminum cosmetic tube suppliers is important after knowing the necessary industrial clusters.
Many importers think it is very hard to find these suppliers. Honestly, it is not. It is in fact the easiest step in importing aluminum cosmetic tubes.
There are different channels you can use to source aluminium tubes cosmetics packaging suppliers in China. But the easiest to use are;
- Online B2B platforms
- China trade fairs
- China Beauty Expo (CBE) supply
Online B2B platforms
These are some of the best places to find Chinese manufacturers and suppliers of cosmetic aluminum tubes. Online B2B platforms are one of the fastest ways to get in touch with your target suppliers in China. These platforms have helped a lot of businesses to grow. It does this by connecting both local and international clients.
You too can benefit from these channels. You can utilize these platforms to source for your Chinese aluminum cosmetic tubes suppliers. They come in handy when importing aluminum tube cosmetic packaging.
In China, two online B2B platforms come highly recommended. They are Alibaba and made-in-china.com.
Alibaba.com
One of the online B2B platforms to reach Chinese suppliers of cosmetic aluminum tubes is Alibaba. It is a privately owned consortium that is located in Hangzhou Province.
One of the main features of the Alibaba Online B2B platform is E-commerce. It includes retail shopping, and business-to-business trades, and serves as a sales point for final consumers.
This online B2B platform has over 35 million users. This increases your chances of seeing more suppliers of aluminum tubes cosmetic packaging. The platform is also the biggest and oldest and has several companies associated with it.
The companies are:
All these are corporate summaries that are available on the Alibaba website. Together, they all help to give you one of the best services.
Made-in-china.com
Many people consider made-in-china.com as a clone of Alibaba. However, this is not true.
Did you know that made-in-china.com launched a year before Alibaba? This makes the story of it being a clone of Alibaba false.
The two companies are indeed online B2B platforms. But they differ from each other. That is because they offer unique services.
Made-in-china.com is based in Nanjing and it is a directory of Chinese suppliers. These suppliers specialize in almost all kinds of products. Including aluminum cosmetic tubes.
Although Alibaba has the largest directory of Chinese suppliers. Made in China is considered among the biggest five online B2B platforms.
So if you think you won’t find your supplier on Alibaba, you can try made-in-china.com. Hopefully, you will get the Chinese aluminum cosmetic tool supplier you want.
These are not the only online B2B platforms. There is DHGate, Global Sources, and several others.
China Trade Fairs
Another channel for finding suppliers of aluminum cosmetic tubes in China is trade fairs. Although it is not as easy as using online B2B platforms.
China trade fairs are other ways of finding suppliers for your cosmetic packaging tubes.
As the Chinese economy increases with their technology, their trade fairs become very important. People from many countries around the world flock to China trade fairs. You can try that as well. You will have a variety of companies, manufacturers, and suppliers to select from. And all of them will be at very low and affordable prices.
But it is not in all China Trade fairs you will find suppliers of aluminum cosmetic tubes. The ones you can find them in are;
- The Canton fair
- Yiwu commodity fair
- ECF – East China import and export commodity fair
- CIBE – China International Beauty Expo
This is the Chinese export and import trade fair. At this trade fair, you can see suppliers of almost everything. Especially cosmetic aluminum tubes. It is also the biggest trade fair in China. It is held two times a year.
At this China Trade fair, all types of goods are available. They are so cheap that even small buyers can benefit from them.
ECF – East China import and export commodity fair
This is almost like the Yiwu commodity fair. At this China trade fair, all kinds of commodity goods are available. And they come at low and affordable prices.
CIBE – China International Beauty Expo
CIBE (China International Beauty Expo) is the entry point for B2B and B2B2C beauty/health brands entering China as well as Chinese brands increasing their presence abroad.
The 32 years of loyalty is another great way of finding Chinese suppliers for your aluminum tube cosmetic packaging. Apart from the online B2B platform, the China Beauty Expo is your strongest chance. It is as well, your easiest. It connects you directly to the beauty industry.
How to Identify Real and Decent Chinese Suppliers
When importing aluminium cosmetic tubes from China, there are several processes. One of these processes is identifying real and decent Chinese suppliers. There are many ways to do this. But you can use the following ways.
- Virtual Visting to Factories
- Thorough Research
- Face to Face with Suppliers’ Salespersons
- Verify registration details
- References, Reviews, and Testimonials
Virtual visiting to factories
Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, visiting factories have been greatly reduced. In fact, it is not as common as before.
However, there is another way to go about this. Online visiting. Online visiting or virtual visiting can be done using any platform that allows for video conferencing. Example of platforms Includes Zoom, Skype, Meet, or any other video conferencing media of your choice.
Virtual visits to factories will help you know if the supplier is authentic or just a sham. During the virtual visits or meetings, I will advise you to make some necessary findings.
You can observe the situation of the company and its staff. And also know their method of production and inspection.
https://aluminumrock.com/7-key-points-buy-cosmetic-containers-from-china/
Also, very importantly, you need to know what their minimum order quantity is. As most Chinese suppliers have very high minimum order quantities. These MOQ might be more than you want, and more expensive. Which is not good for a budding business.
You can start from 3000pieces at Aluminumrock.
Thorough research
You can never underestimate the importance of thorough research during importation. No matter what you are importing.
When buying aluminium cosmetic tubes, you need quality tubes. Quality tubes will make your business grow faster and attract more customers. It would also reduce the shelf life of products.
Buying substandard ones might be cheap, but they’ll cost you more. They can also lead to damage to your goods. This makes conducting thorough research of suppliers very important before importation.
You can use that opportunity to know more about the aluminum tube for cosmetic suppliers. You can also find their policies and how they handle returns and damages of cosmetic packaging tubes. I would advise you to use online B2B platforms for this. And these platforms always target verified suppliers of cosmetic packaging tubes.
Face to Face with Suppliers’ Salespersons
There is a lot of information on the Internet for almost anything you need. Well, you can’t compare this information to the actual meeting with a supplier salesperson. Face to face with your suppliers, it can figure out almost 80% of problems.
You can ask them about the processes involved in their production. And check if it favors you and if it’s not what you want. You can also ask the supplier salespersons about the common problems they encounter with aluminum cosmetic tubes. You can also ask how they handle this problem. If they handle it to your satisfaction, you can proceed to do business with them.
The trick here is to collect enough information about problems regarding cosmetic aluminum tubes. You can use these problems to follow up with other suppliers. This would make you feel like a professor of aluminum cosmetic problems. And to some extent, a sourcing expert.
Verify registration details
Another step in identifying if your supplier is decent is by verifying their registration license.
Chinese registration license includes the business license with a the total of 18 digits, the name and business scope that you can recognize if they are manufacturers or trading.
While most companies have theirs on their online platforms, others will need you to request their licenses. There are several online platforms to verify registration licenses. If these licenses are in Chinese, you can ask your Chinese friends to help you with translation.
But if you do not have any Chinese friends, we are willing to help you. You can send the license to us. We are more than willing to help you interpret the license and we can do that within 30 minutes.
References, Reviews, and Testimonials
A good entrepreneur knows the importance of references. In fact, good reviews are one way to grow a business.
When you find a supplier for your cosmetic packaging tube, you need to ask for references, reviews, or testimonials. Especially if they don’t have any on their website or online platforms.
References or testimonials will show you how well a Chinese supplier handles its customers. You can email or call the References or testimonials for feedback. You could also ask them about the process involved and the problems they encountered. This will also help you in dealing with that particular supplier or other suppliers.
Required Documents for Importing Aluminum Tubes for Cosmetics in China
After you might have gotten a good and trusted supplier when next is to prepare for importing your aluminum tube cosmetics.
To successfully do these, there are some documents you need. These documents will make the whole process easy. And also help to avoid the felt of your aluminum cosmetic tubes packaging.
The documents required to import aluminum tube cosmetics are:
- Bill of lading
- Packing list
- Commercial invoice
- Proforma invoice
- Insurance Policy
- Certificate of origin
- Customs declaration
Follow Up With Production Always
When importing your aluminum cosmetic tubes from China, you need to do a weekly production update. Following up on your production is important to make sure your aluminum cosmetic tube packaging is delivered on time.
Follow-up requires weekly production updates as well as pictures or videos of the processes involved in production. Most times, manufacturers do not update their clients or they may just say a few words to show your production is under control. But in an actual sense, your production is not going well.
Customization of aluminum tubes for packaging requires manual production. Since automatic machines are not used, that means it is prone to “errors”. The errors during the production are not really an issue.
The problem is when you discover these errors after you receive the products. Hence, production by hand requires standard production management and a frequent inspection team. You need to ask manufacturers how they do production management and inspection, and what standard they adopt.
For example, here at AluminumRock, we help our clients stay updated with their production. Because we know how difficult it can be most of the time. And we understand that our clients have something else that might be taking their time.
AluminumRock has a production follow-up sheet that is updated weekly for our clients. The content of our follow-up worksheets shows the situation of your aluminum cosmetic packaging.
They include:
- Packaging
- Pre-Production Sample
- Raw material
- Production
- Inline Inspection
- Final Inspection
- Loading
- Supervision
- Shipping
This helps our clients to keep track of their productions always. So if there are any problems, they will be updated in the comment section provided. When complaints are received, we work on them immediately and update the worksheet again.
This helps our clients to follow up their entire production process with a single click. We also ensure that our clients get videos of the production to confirm with our worksheet.
When you apply a strict follow-up procedure and standard, you increase your chances of getting timely delivery and top-notch quality cosmetic packaging.
Summary
Importing aluminum cosmetic tubes can become a tedious task if not properly done. Following this ultimate guide will make it a lot easier for you. It will show you where you can locate your Chinese industrial clusters, and how to find a supplier.
After getting a supplier for aluminum cosmetic tubes, you also see how and why you need to verify them.
Using the above steps and following up on your production weekly, can help make the importation of aluminum tubes for cosmetics easy.
I hope this ultimate guide will help you in your cosmetic packaging tube importation.