HONG KONG, Sept. 24 /Xinhua-PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sixty-two percent of mainland China suppliers are increasing spending on quality control, according to a survey of more than 200 manufacturers conducted by Global Sources (Nasdaq: GSOL) this month. Suppliers are responding to foreign buyers' increased concerns about quality, following recent news of China-made product recalls in the United States.
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Among respondents' spending plans for the year:
-- 10 percent said they are increasing quality control spending by more
than 20 percent;
-- 26 percent indicated spending will increase by 10 to 20 percent; and,
-- 26 percent of respondents said they'll increase spending by up to
10 percent.
The survey, which was conducted over a one-week period beginning September 10, covered suppliers in 11 provinces across China, with 53 percent of respondents coming from Guangdong province, where the recalled products were manufactured. Global Sources initiated the survey to see how suppliers are addressing product quality issues since the story broke.
Global Sources' Chairman and CEO, Merle A. Hinrichs, said: "While overall responsibility for product quality rests with the importer, who is legally responsible for ensuring that his products meet the standards of the country where it is being sold, mainland China suppliers, as this survey shows, are investing heavily to help their buyers meet these requirements."
The majority of spending on quality control is directed toward implementing total quality management procedures in factories, with more than 70 percent of suppliers saying it's the best way to improve overall quality.
The survey also shows:
-- 20 percent of suppliers feel working closely with quality-focused
buyers leads to overall product quality improvement
-- 63 percent of mainland China suppliers say most quality issues are
addressed by working with buyers well before production begins,
during the design and sampling stages
-- 34 percent of respondents said quality issues are actually addressed
during production line inspection either by the buyer, inspection
agency, or factory quality control staff
Vice President & General Manager of Circuit City in China, Jeric Ma, said: "We fully understand that the safety of the products we sell is vital and we work closely with all our suppliers in China and elsewhere to ensure they meet the appropriate regulatory approval standards.
"This is to the mutual benefit of the consumers, the suppliers and, naturally, to our company and our brand.
"We invest heavily in quality control and quality assurance processes and are confident that the suppliers we choose to work with make high-quality products that are safe as we responsible to our customers."
Even with the recent news coverage on product recalls, 66 percent of survey respondents still expect that their export sales to increase over the next 12 months.
Suppliers surveyed for the report come mainly from consumer product manufacturing industries across China, including electronics (27%), home products (12%), telecommunications products (11%), and hardware and
do-it-yourself products (8%).
About Global Sources
Global Sources is a leading business-to-business (B2B) media company and a primary facilitator of two-way trade with Greater China. The core business is facilitating trade from Greater China to the world, using a wide range of English-language media. The other key business segment facilitates trade from the world to Greater China using Chinese-language media.
The company provides sourcing information to volume buyers and integrated marketing services to suppliers. It helps a community of over 635,000 active buyers source more profitably from complex overseas supply markets. With the goal of providing the most effective ways possible to advertise, market and sell, Global Sources enables suppliers to sell to hard-to-reach buyers in over 230 countries.
The company offers the most extensive range of media and export marketing services in the industries it serves. It delivers information on 1.8 million products and more than 150,000 suppliers annually through 13 online marketplaces, 12 monthly magazines, over 100 sourcing research reports and nine specialized trade shows which run 22 times a year across seven cities.
Suppliers receive more than 18 million sales leads annually from buyers through Global Sources Online (http://www.globalsources.com) alone.
Global Sources has been facilitating global trade for 36 years. In mainland China it has over 1,700 team members in 44 locations, and a community of over 1 million registered online users and magazine readers for Chinese-language media.
Global Sources Press Contact in Asia:
Camellia So
Tel: +852-2555-5021
Email: cso@globalsources.com
Global Sources Investor Contact in Asia:
Eddie Heng
Tel: +65-6547-2850
Email: eheng@globalsources.com
Global Sources Press Contact in U.S.:
James W.W. Strachan
Tel: +1-480-664-8309
Email: strachan@globalsources.com
Global Sources Investor Contact in U.S.:
Moriah Shilton & Christiane Pelz
Lippert/Heilshorn & Associates, Inc.
Tel: +1-415-433-3777
Email: cpelz@lhai.com
