As an experienced sourcing specialist here in China, I'd like to share some experience in sourcing qualified suppliers or partners at our end. Currently we have following major ways to source qualified suppliers or partners in China:

1).Industry Fair or Show
In China almost every industry has their own trade show or fair. So industry fair is one of the best ways for you to source and meet some qualified suppliers and exporters. Here is an example, if you are looking for Chinese fruits, you can simply attend IFRESH FAIR or Asia Fruit Logistica (www.asiafruitlogistica.cn), you will find out many qualified suppliers there.

Click here to find out more than 100 different industry fairs in China.

2).Industry Association
The next way to source qualified suppliers is through industry association, every big industry has their own industry association as well. Take CIMA (China Instrument Manufacturers Association: http://www.cima.org.cn ) as an example, founded in 1988, the China Instrument Manufacturer Association (CIMA) is a nationwide, industry-backed and non-profit social organization integrating a myriad of leading renowned enterprises and research institutions. It has 1079 members and among which there are 987 manufacturers, 44 research institutions, 21 colleges and universities, and 27 relevant societies. The total member's production capacity accounts for more than 85% of China market. This is nearly the same case in other industry associations in China, each one must have some well-known factories or brands in their field.

Here is the list of a top industry associations in China for your reference.
China Vegetable Association: www.cva128.org
China Fruit Association: www.china-fruit.com.cn
China Grain Association: www.chinagrains.org.cn
China Animal Agriculture Association: www.caaa.cn
China Cotton Association: www.china-cotton.org    
China Agricultural Machinery Distribution Association: www.camda.cn
China Aquatic Products Processing and Marketing Association: www.cappma.org
China Crop Protection Industry Association: www.ccpia.org.cn
China Fisheries Association: www.china-cfa.org
Please click here to know more about China industry associations.

3).Internet Platform
①.Search Engine -- Google and Baidu 
Google accounts for 92% of the global searching market. Baidu accounts for 80% of China searching market. Incorporated on January 18, 2000, With the world’s largest Internet user population—829 million as of December 2018—and a long way to go to reach Internet penetration levels of developed countries, Baidu has been the largest Chinese search engine on the globe, with a daily click record of 6 billion in 2018. You can find out hundreds of suppliers via Baidu with the right key words.

②.B2B platforms -- Alibaba, 1688, Made-in-China 
1688 is the largest wholesale market on the globe, with more than 10 million registered companies or factories online, covering more than 1709 different industries in China. Hundreds of industry clusters or manufacturing bases can be found on 1688.com.

③.Social Media -- Webo, QQ, Wechat
https://weibo.com/, As of January 2019, The number of Weibo users is 337 million, among them 1.5 million are registered companies or factories in China. Currently there 1.04 billion weichat users, among them more than 30 million are corporate users, covering 50 different industries.  

4).Manufacturing Bases / Industry Clusters/ Industry Market
In China, almost each industry has her own industry market, where the buyers, sellers, factories and distributors can meet each other. Industry Market is the best place for businessmen to do market survey, source factories and look for qualified distributors etc in China. The industry market is normally located at the real manufacturing bases, for example, if you’re buying 'fireworks', you can go and source some qualified suppliers at Liuyang International Fireworks Market in Liuyang city, China, where there are hundreds of factories located.

Here is a list of some TOP and best industry markets in China:
Food Industry -- Jiangsu Jiangyin Food Market 
Website: www.jiangyinshipin.com
Food Industry -- Cixi Zhouxiang Food and Groceries Wholesale Market 
Website: www.cixishipin.com
Food Industry -- Zhejiang Jiashan Business Centre
Website: www.jssc.zj.cn
Seafood Industry -- Zhoushan International Aquatic Products City
Website: www.cfm.com.cn
Vegetable Industry -- Shandong Shouguang Vegetable Market
Website: www.sgvbot.com  or www.vegnet.com.cn
Agricultural Product Industry -- Changzhou Lingjiatang Market
Website: www.ljt.cn
Fruit Industry  -- China Fruit Wholesale Market
Website: www.cnfruit.com  or  www.guo68.com  www.agrosg.com
Agricultural Product Industry -- Zhangjiagang Qingcaoxiang Market
Website: www.zjgqcx.com
Foodstuff Industry -- Jiangxi Jiujiang South China Cereal Trade Market
Website: www.cereal.com.cn  or  www.chinagrain.gov.cn
Foodstuff Industry -- Zhengzhou Grain Wholesale Market
Website: www.czgm.com

For more China industry market information, please contact STIN sourcing team for details.
5).Customs Data
The suppliers sourced at 'Customs Data’are mostly very qualified as they already did the right business with their clients worldwide. Say, with a right keyword, you can easily find out the top 100 exporters for agricultural-products in China. You have to buy 'customs data' in China sometimes. NO free data is available at my end.

Copyright: STIN Sourcing Team (www.chinabizservices.com)