Opinions, knowledge and resources from China Checkup's expert contributors
Finding a good Chinese manufacturer can be challenging at times, but did you know that many famous companies actually publicly disclose their China Supplier list?
That's right, many of the leading brands will actually tell you which Chinese companies produce their goods, you just need to know where to look.
Read on to find out why companies such as Apple, Nike and Levis are disclosing their China supplier list and where you can go to find it.
In short, nearly all of them! We’re not aware of any leading companies that have a “Not Made in China” policy, but please feel free to let us know if you are aware of any.
The majority of the world’s leading companies have an extensive Chinese supply chain and in the most part they keep their China supplier list very guarded. Although their products are marked “Made in China”, it can be difficult to identify where exactly they were manufactured.
There are, however, some examples of world leading companies who make another choice. Perhaps under pressure to be transparent from their customers and the media, some of the world’s very best companies actually choose to make their China supplier list publicly available.
Here are some of the companies we have identified which make their Chinese supplier lists publicly available:
| Company | Where They Publish | |
|---|---|---|
 |
Apple | Apple Supplier Responsibility |
 |
Adidas | Adidas Global Factory Lists |
 |
C&A | C&A's Suppliers' Factory List |
 |
Columbia | Columbia Transparency |
 |
Dell | Dell Supply Chain |
 |
H&M | H&M Supplier Factory List |
 |
HP | HP Supply Chain |
 |
Lego | Lego Group Responsible Supplier Management |
 |
Levi Strauss & Co. | Levi Strauss & Co. Sustainability / Production |
 |
Nike | Nike Manufacturing Map |
 |
Puma | Puma Sustainability |
 |
Timberland | Timberland CSR Reporting |
 |
United Nations | UN Secretariat Registered Vendors |
If you have heard of other organizations disclosing their Chinese suppliers we’d be interested to hearing from you and adding to this list.
Have you worked in a company that disclosed its suppliers? Did anything change as a consequence?
View this comprehensive list of cities in China from Ankang to Zunyi!
We have included all cities in China that are either at, or above, prefecture-level and they are listed both alphabetically and grouped by province.
This list of Chinese AMR websites includes links to the AMR branch website for each province/administrative region in China.
In case you're wondering, the acronym "AMR" stands for "Administration for Market Regulation", which is a newly-launched Chinese government agency created by the merger of many previous agencies, including the AIC and AQSIQ.
This super regulator is now responsible for a wide range of regulatory matters in Mainland China, so if you need to get in touch with them you should find this list of Chinese AMR websites useful.
The China AEO Certificate is a document held by companies in China engaged in import and export activities.
Issued by China Customs, the certificate specifies the company's enterprise classification, which determines their level of inspections and more.
Requesting and verifying a supplier's China AEO certificate can be a sensible measure to understand if they are registered with China Customs as an "Authorized Economic Operator" and to check their AEO type.
Matt Slater
Author
Hi there, I'm Matt, the Founder & CEO of China Checkup. Originally from the UK, I am now based in Brisbane, Australia.
Frustrated by the scarcity of concise, high-quality and timely information about Chinese companies, I setup China Checkup whilst living in Shanghai in 2013.
My team are proud that China Checkup's company verification reports have now helped thousands of clients from all corners of the world to do business in China more safely.