It seems like if a Chinese manufacturer could get his name associated with the quality products he manufactures, then both the mfg. and the re-seller(s) could gain status and add value to the products. That is what we do here, why the big secrets?
Bob,
I ran the project management office when we built a 1.3B manufacturing operation in Tianjin. I lived there for 4 years straight and been back and forth totalling another couple of years. I dealt with the local business leaders and the higher ups in the city. In China it is all about making money these days, and anything is possible given the right position and connections. The reason we got what we wanted, including 1 day customs clearance because the project was the largest foreign investment in all of China at that time. Bragging rights is alive and well in the country, the project was the crown jewel for the City of Tianjin.
There are agents representing manufacturers, mostly their drinking buddies, but more often their former military buddies, who tend to control and protect their financial interest. The manufacturers themselves will explore business developments if the deal looks promising.
It has been seven years since my last business trip to China, back then in the city of Tianjin, if you are looking for a particular manufacturer, you can contact their city representative who has an office in NYC and SFO . He can put you in contact with his colleagues back in Tianjin. In the city they have fully furnished offices that they put foreigners and they will bring manufacturers' representatives to your office so they can give you run down on company's capability. The city will even provide an interpreter in case business representative has very limited English language skill.
I don't believe the manufacturer will purposely want to keep the deal quiet or lose the good deal.
The Chinese got so good in manufacturing since digging themselves from the dark ages of the cultural revolution in the 60s, partly due to their business savvy. They knew they did not have the know how and they want to jump start the industries without going though a very long learning curve. What did they do, they hired a lot of Taiwanese to run the businesses. It was brilliant, the Taiwanese speak the business language in the mainland and they posses the skills needed. The Chinese can manufacture to your spec at the price point you are willing to pay.
When we built the factory, we hired some of the best fresh out engineers we could find, ranging from undergraduate to a few advance degrees. We trained them here anywhere from 1 year to 2 1/2 years. When we sold the factory, these US trained engineers got scooped up by different industries. That was in 2004, now they are in various higher positions to make a difference in their own industries.