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What we are
An independent trading and sourcing company. We are not a factory owner — we screen and work with manufacturers, and we tell you exactly who produces what and under what relationship before you order.
Banker-turned-sourcing-partner. Ten-plus years assessing manufacturing companies' creditworthiness at a state-owned bank — now applied to protecting overseas buyers' supply chains in South China.
For more than ten years, Katherine Tu worked at a state-owned bank in China, spending years in corporate lending — assessing the financial health, production capability and operational risks of manufacturing companies deciding whether they could be trusted with a loan.
Her earlier career included export work in stainless-steel products, so she had seen the factory floor and the buyer's side of the table. But it was banking that taught her the skill most sourcing intermediaries never develop: telling a stable manufacturer from a fragile one, before it's obvious.
In 2023 she founded Zhaoqing Taotao Import and Export Trading Co., Ltd. in Zhaoqing, Guangdong — in the middle of South China's manufacturing belt — to bring that same risk discipline to overseas buyers purchasing helmets, industrial products and custom-sourced goods from China.
She holds a Master of Translation and Interpreting in English from Guangxi University and is co-author of the bestselling book Super Learner. So when she reports on your supplier, you get precise, unfiltered English — not a translation of what a salesperson wanted you to hear.
"A factory can show you certificates and a showroom. What it can't fake for long is financial discipline, delivery habits and how it treats problems. That's what I know how to look for."— Katherine Tu, Founder
Founded 2023 · Zhaoqing, Guangdong, China
An independent trading and sourcing company. We are not a factory owner — we screen and work with manufacturers, and we tell you exactly who produces what and under what relationship before you order.
21 categories today: helmets & visors, doors & windows and door hardware, decking, steel structures, prefab cabins, solar mounting, heat pumps, sanitary ware, consumer goods and more — every category one where we can verify the supplier.
Clear scope before work starts, written reports with evidence, and honest recommendations — including "walk away from this factory" when that's the right answer.
Factory visits, product checks and sourcing lessons — in English, on the platforms below. Watch how we work before you ever send an inquiry.
Tell Katherine what you're trying to buy or verify. If Taotao isn't the right fit, she'll say so — and may still point you in the right direction.